On January 14, residents of Appleton, Camden, Hope, Lincolnville, and Rockport will head to the polls to vote on a proposed $7.3 million bond for Camden Hills Regional High School. As a School Board, we know the bond has generated questions from the community. We wanted to provide voters with additional information on the repairs and upgrades that are necessary to ensure the school remains safe, functional, and capable of meeting the needs of our student body.

This bond package includes key investments in maintenance, energy efficiency, athletics, performing arts, and safety — areas that directly impact both students and the community as a whole. The proposed bond includes funding for four major projects that are critical to the continued operation and success of the school which is now 25 years old:

1. HVAC Repair and Replacement
   The high school’s geothermal heating and cooling system, which currently provides 10 percent of the building’s heating and 90 percent of its cooling, has failed. Additionally, the school’s aging boilers are at the end of their lifespan. After careful consideration, the district has chosen to replace the geothermal system with efficient propane boilers and a new air-cooled chiller—an option deemed to be the most cost-effective solution in the long run.

2. Replacement of Siding and Windows
   The siding has deteriorated and continues to fall off, causing water infiltration and additional damage. The windows are also failing due to rotting sills and need to be replaced. Replacing the siding and windows ensures the building remains weather-tight and energy-efficient.

3. Athletic Field Improvements
   The Don Palmer Field, the main athletic field at the high school, is struggling to meet the demands of the school's athletic teams. With limited space and excessive wear and tear, the district determined that the only viable solution would be to convert the field to turf and install lights. This upgrade will essentially double the field's capacity, allowing for more games and practices, and better supporting our student athletes.

4. Strom Auditorium Upgrades
   The Strom Auditorium, a vital space for performances, assemblies, and community events, needs repairs. These include seat replacements, lighting and sound upgrades, and ensuring the auditorium meets current safety standards.
   
   

The school district will be offsetting some of these costs by using $800,000 from the district’s Capital Reserve fund. Community and parent fundraising efforts will also contribute to the athletic field and Strom Auditorium upgrades.

What does this mean for taxpayers? If approved, the bond will be repaid over time, beginning next school year. We estimate that the bond repayment will add an additional 4.5% to 6% to the overall budget, which is expected to increase by around 10% in total.

While this will represent an increase in the tax burden for local residents, failing to address these issues now will result in even higher costs in the future, particularly as repairs become more urgent and extensive.

None of these decisions was taken lightly. The School Board is committed to fiscal prudence while maintaining the quality of education that our students deserve. In the face of rising construction and maintenance costs, the district has worked hard to prioritize these projects to ensure we’re making the most efficient use of public funds and tackling projects that simply cannot wait. We also believe it makes more financial sense to package these projects as one bond now instead of continuing to come back to taxpayers with additional requests.

As far as timing goes, we know that a January election is not ideal. With school officials balancing these multiple projects and needing to wait on approvals, quotes, and information from a wide array of local, state, and national officials as well as engineers, vendors, construction companies, architects, and others, there was not enough time to meet September deadlines to make the November ballot. Waiting until June would cause the district to miss the timing of the municipal bond market, delay the projects, and likely further increase costs.

The School Board and school officials have made several efforts to get information regarding the bond referendum out to the public. At the meeting where the School Board approved these bond projects, we had more than 50 community members present. Compare that with most school budget hearings where we often have just a single member of the public present who is not employed by the school system. Superintendent Maria Libby briefed the Camden Select Board at its most recent meeting and shared details of the referendum projects in a press release with local media. There have been several local stories about the referendum and a hearing will be held on January 2nd at 6:00 p.m. in the Rose Hall Board Room. Contrary to what some have asserted, absentee ballots are available for this election.

Other questions have come up regarding the turf field.

The School Board has discussed the possibility of a turf field for several years. The Board originally voted against a turf field, instructing district leadership to investigate alternatives. Unfortunately, the district reached a dead end with every other possible option.

We are fortunate to have a vibrant athletic program with more than half of Camden Hills students participating in sports. But our current fields just cannot sustain that much activity. For the benefit of our students and to honor their incredible effort and talents, we need to provide them with safe and adequate field space and conditions and turf is the only option to meet our needs.

We are encouraged that since we first started this discussion several years ago, harmful chemicals have been removed from turf and there are more options to recycle it at the end of its use.

School Board members are very thankful to voters and our communities for the support you have extended to our schools over the years. We hope that you will continue to show your support on January 14 by voting for this bond proposal and allowing us to continue to provide our students with the safe and vibrant facilities they deserve.

Marcus Mrowka is chair of the Five Town CSD School Board