With the end of the year approaching, the Southport School Committee on Dec. 11 wrapped up some items and pondered others for the new year.

Southport Central School Principal Lisa Clarke reported enrollment would drop to 23 after the holiday break when one student moves away. In her report, Clarke commented on the results of the recent state testing and said, "It is hard to get consistency in the test results in a school this size. The most important thing is to make sure we do not have any gaps in our curriculum. We have to meet the students’ needs by asking how we can do things differently or better and keep in touch with the schools they will attend after graduating from SCS."  

Clarke also reminded the committee it has to review and approve the updated Emergency Management Plan (EMP), which is done annually. 

Superintendent Dr. Keith Laser asked Clarke for her opinion about hiring a curriculum coordinator for the district. Clarke said, "I feel that it would be beneficial. When we had one before we collaborated well, so hiring (one) would bring that back."

Looking ahead, the committee wondered if construction of the new bridge over Decker Cove might interfere with the school bus routes and getting the students to school on time in the coming year. 

But the hot topic of the evening was about replacing the boiler.

BRES facilities/transportation director Dave Benner had collected information and quotes. "A year ago the scope was narrowed down by an engineering study to replace the old steam system with either one or two oil-fired boilers or one or two propane-fired boilers," he said. In the quest for quotes, Benner asked that DDC controls, LED lighting and the complete demo of the old steam system be included.

Honeywell, Mechanical Services, Midcoast Energy and Colby & Gale were contacted.  Only the first two responded.

The committee's consensus was that propane was preferred since it is more efficient than heating oil and because the price of heating oil often goes up in the winter.

Honeywell quoted $338,164 for a one propane-fired boiler and $344,200 for a two propane-fired boiler.  Mechanical Services quoted $305,362 for a one propane-fired boiler and $316,154 for a two propane fired-boiler.

Benner admitted it sounded expensive but explained almost 50 percent of the cost is to demolish and remove the old steam system. Benner said, "Once the new system is in place, the boilers could be replaced when necessary but the expense would never be as great again. The cheapest thing to do is to just keep what we have and continue to patch it up as things break but that could cause students to lose time out of school while repairs are made."

The committee asked Benner to draft a breakdown of the quotes to review at the next meeting in case there are ways to do the job in phases.

The committee meets next at 4 p.m. Monday, Jan. 14.