Frequently Asked Questions

Our school infrastructure is approaching a breaking point. Cape Elizabeth Middle school is the oldest of our schools. Portions of the building date back to 1934 and the time has come to retire the building. Numerous architects have studied our school campus and concluded that new construction provides a better return on investment for taxpayers.

Unfortunately, the issues with ape Elizabeth’s school buildings are easy to find, per our architects. A few of the most significant areas where we’re falling short include:

• Security and Accessibility Gaps: Older schools lack modern security measures and proper entrances, making it difficult to monitor access. The "middle ground" project enhances safety by adding secure entrances and administrative offices at Pond Cove and separating public and student spaces at CEMS.

• Inadequate Learning and Support Spaces: Outdated classrooms, limited specialized learning areas, and poor technology infrastructure hinder modern teaching methods. The proposal addresses these issues with new spaces for Special Education, therapy, STEM, and hands-on learning.

• Scheduling and Facility Constraints: Shared spaces like the cafetorium disrupt academic schedules for 1,000+ students. The project separates Pond Cove and CEMS while improving functionality across both schools.

• Aging Infrastructure: Rising maintenance costs stem from outdated mechanical systems, inefficient designs, and structural issues like leaking roofs. The project includes upgrades to mechanical systems, flooring, ceilings, and paint, reducing long-term costs.

Multiple architects, engineers, and the town’s Owner’s Representative have identified numerous critical building needs and barriers to education. The cost of addressing these issues through renovation is almost as high as building a new school and lasts significantly less time before requiring additional investments. Read more here about building new over renovating.

This timeline gives you a detailed account of the project to date.The current project is a revised version of the "Middle Ground" project narrowly defeated in November 2024.

If the bond is approved at the ballot box in June 2025, payments will begin in November 2026 (FY27). Payments will be increased incrementally over 6 years. Read more here about the tax impact.

Absolutely not. Teachers’ salaries and budgetary issues have nothing to do with bonding a school building project. In fact, new buildings would have a positive impact on our school budget due to reduced operating and maintenance costs for the old buildings. Additionally, modern facilities would attract more high-quality teachers and administrators, particularly in a time of teacher shortage and upcoming retirements.

According to Architect Lisa Sawin, modern schools “build for flexibility without building to excess”. Wings are built around a combination of core classrooms and “flex spaces”. Cross-grade programs like World Language and Special Education utilize the flex spaces and move around the building depending on incoming class sizes. This allows the building to have the number of classrooms it needs while also not over building grade level wings.

Read more on enrollment here, and remember, this project is meant to serve 68,000+ future students over the next 70 years.

The good news is that there are existing relief programs for those in need. We’ve compiled a list of property tax relief programs here, please share it with those who may be interested.

Additionally, on September 9, 2024, the Cape Elizabeth Town Council voted unanimously to update the Senior Tax Relief program, introducing a system of tiered benefits updating the previous maximum of $500 to a range based on income, starting at $750 and capping at $1,500.

The Maine Major Capital School Construction Program accepts applications in phases. It is a very competitive process that requires a significant investment into a Facilities Assessment in order to even apply. Leveraging the reports produced by Colby, Harriman, and Turner & Townsend Heery, CESD submitted applications for all three schools for the most recent funding round on August 30, 2024.

It is our understanding that CESD did not apply in previous application years (2011, 2017). Doing some digging, we discovered that CESD attempted to budget a full Facilities Study in 2017, however state funding cuts and "a wish for greater community participation" (as well as lack of support at the Town Council level) nixed the funding needed to study the facilities properly.

It's important to note that the state process is a lengthy one that only opens for funding roughly once every 7 years. The South Portland middle school that opened last year was approved in the 2011 funding cycle. In 2017, where 75 applicants were accepted and only 9 were approved for state funding, some of which are still waiting to begin the concepting phase today.

In February, SBAC met with the Maine Department of Education who said the State’s selections are based on need no matter if a project is in process or not. The Department of Education has recently opened their latest cycle with an application deadline of August 30, 2024. CESD submitted an application for each of our three schools.

CESD has applied for and received grants to address some high-priority issues through the Maine School Revolving Renovation Fund (SRRF) which provides 10-year, 0% interest loans to schools. A portion of the loan is considered a grant and is forgiven. CESD will continue to pursue these partially-forgiven loans through their typical CIP budget process.

One of the top concerns from the "No" side after the 2022 referendum was the need to hire an Owner's Representative. They wanted to ensure that the next proposal wouldn't include unnecessary extras in the bond amount (aka "the Taj Mahal").

As a result, the town hired Turner and Townsend to perform the role of Owner's Representative to oversee the school building project on behalf of the town, school department, and taxpayer. This firm works to manage the project's resources, time, money, and quality independently of the hired architect.

Part of that work included independently verifying the project estimates from Harriman architects.

Further, in June, Turner Townsend presented a long-term plan for Cape Elizabeth schools. After studying past work by Colby and current work by Harriman for 8 months, they created a list of repairs and renovations to include in the Middle Ground project.

They also identified:

• The projects that are best to seek SRRF Funds (state grant, 0% interest loans program) for

• Completed projects that were tackled between the start of the building project years ago and today

• Projects that are no longer required or at issue after further inspection

• The remaining list of tasks to be addressed over the next few years through the regular CIP process.

We're grateful to see how this decision has already helped reduce costs for the "middle ground" project. They have also been able to provide a detailed, prioritized plan for our Facilities Department to implement through this work.