PARIS — School officials say they are disappointed the proposed Oxford Hills Middle School construction project received a low rating on the state’s recently released school construction priority list. The good news is the project has moved up the list.

The Oxford Hills Middle School project was listed 26 out of 71 school construction projects on the list, but School Superintendent Rick Colpitts said it could be worse.

“The good news is we moved from number 55 so we moved up to number 26, which means that other school districts that had needier buildings have taken care of those over the years,” Colpitts said.

This was the first rating of school projects for funding since the 2004-2005 rating cycle, when 22 schools were approved for renovation or construction, according to a statement released by the Department of Education.

Colpitts said the Oxford Hills Middle School project will add classroom space to replace the portable classrooms, address air-quality issues, build for programming that didn’t exist 60 years ago and address structural and energy needs. Middle School Principal Troy Eastman said there are currently 14 portable units being used to educate about 50 percent of the school population at any given time.

The list is only the first step in the process that includes prioritizing, determining solutions, designing and building. The State Board of Education funds as many projects from the list as available funds allow, but no numbers are attached to the applications when submitted.

“You don’t start looking at (costs) until the project is selected for funding,” Colpitts explained. “High schools now run between $50 million and $60 million. Dirigo Elementary School in Dixfield (completed four years ago) cost about $14 million to $15 million.”

Colpitts said the Legislature will need to determine how much money will be allocated to state-funded construction projects next year. Once they establish the funding, they will take the first school on the priority list, estimate replacement costs and then allocate the funds. If there are funds remaining in the state construction account after that, Colpitts said they will move to the second school on the priority list. The process is repeated until funds for school construction are depleted.

Depending on the cost of each project, the state usually only allocates enough money to get to the first three to eight schools on the list, Colpitts said.

“We’re disappointed the state didn’t see some of the concerns we have about our buildings,” Colpitts said. “We also understand our concerns have to be rated against every other districts’ in the state that have concerns about their buildings.”

The list is by greatest to least need. It was based on a maximum of 200 points with 85 for building and grounds, 50 for school population and 65 for program and planning. Site visits by the state review panel were also part of the process.

“I think the rating is fair,” Colpitts said. “I think the way they go about trying to determine which building has the most need I think is a fair system, and I certainly respect that.”

Colpitts said the school district will continue to apply annually for Revolving Renovation funds to address health and safety concerns. The district will also apply for the next school construction funding cycle, which is three years away.

“We’ll get there eventually, but in the meantime we will continue to maintain the building and try to operate a safe system there,” he said.

The department received 74 applications and reviewed all but three that were ineligible because there are currently no students in the three buildings, according to a statement from the Maine Department of Education. The oldest building in the 71 reviewed applications was built in 1861. Fourteen of the buildings were built in the 1970s or later.

In all, there are 207 portable buildings being used in the 71 schools; in six of the schools, more than 40 percent of students are in portables.

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