What goes down doesn’t always come up. Community School District (CSD) Director of Facilities David Benner reported to the board of trustees Nov. 10, the elevator at the high school is broken again. Benner said the situation requires a custodian to man it when in use and, otherwise, keep it locked on the ground floor.   

Benner said the elevator has been having mechanical issues for around a year and he provided a timeline of repairs for troubleshooting its electrical issues. He said an elevator inspector recently said he would shut it down if it were more frequented, like at a college, but believed it was acceptable under the circumstances. Principal Tricia Campbell said it gets used by around 15-20 people a day. 

The board approved a $31,356 proposal to replace a panel and some equipment using funds already available in the budget. “I don’t know that it’s smart or safe for us to have students that can’t use the elevators,” trustee Darrell Gudroe said.  

Benner also said repairs to the high school roof are nearing completion. He said the roofing company has one more visit to make several minor repairs, and the work has a remaining balance of around $75,000. “They want the check, but I told them they couldn't have the check until the work is done,” Benner said.   

In other business, Alternative Organizational Structure (AOS) 98 Superintendent Robert Kahler informed the board that the 2024 financial audit is complete and available. He also said the closing went through for the $1.6 million bond from Maine Municipal Bond Bank to fund priority repairs. Kahler said the district first had to pay off a $432,000 bond anticipation note, in addition to around $4,600 in interest. The payments are complete, according to the district.