The Community School District Board of Trustees made further steps toward repairing what they labeled as “critical” issues at both Boothbay Region High School and Elementary School. Oct 30, the board approved the district move ahead to collect estimates for around $1.66 million in repairs to both schools in preparation for a bond vote.  

“It's not a question of if things are going to fail it's a question of when,” Alternative Organizational Structure (AOS) 98 Superintendent Robert Kahler said. “And we'd love to get more proactive than reactive.”  

The board narrowed down a prioritized list of around $8 million in repairs and approved moving forward with an estimated$1.12 millionof work at the elementary school and $544,000 at the high school. However, according to the board and district officials, some of the cost estimates were as old as 2002. Part of their direction to Kahler was for the district to update them to draft a more accuratebond figure.

In general, the board prioritized repairs to protect the envelope of the buildings, or issues that could be catastrophic if they failed. At the elementary school, project items included repairs to leaking roof parapets and a failing dry sprinkler system. High school repairs include repairs to the roof, gym block glass windows and mortar for the gym exterior wall. In addition, the board agreed thatdecades-old fuel tanks, each witharound a10,000-gallon capacity, need to be replaced at both schools. 

The board also agreed to combine the issues into one referendum because, according to Kahler, each costs around $6,000.In addition, Kahler said most of the issues in this bond referendum would be separate from April’s$30 million project, which is currently in litigation. According to him, the larger project does not include high school repairs, and elementary school repairs listed in both but done as part of a new bond would be taken off of the larger project.