AUGUSTA — Gov. Paul LePage assembled lawmakers and other dignitaries in the Blaine House on Monday to announce a sizable donation to the Maine Community College System. 

The $10.85 million donation, from the Harold Alfond Foundation, will allow the community college system to expand the capacity of the Kennebec Valley Community College in Fairfield by 500 students through the purchase of 600 acres and 13 buildings at the Good Will-Hinckley magnet school in Hinckley.

The gift includes a $1 million bonus for Good Will-Hinckley, which hopes to earn certification to become a charter school.

The Alfond Foundation’s gift is part of a $15.5 million transaction that will establish a partnership between the community college and the magnet school.

Good Will-Hinckley will soon reopen and support its new Maine Academy of Natural Sciences, a magnet high school that will focus on agriculture, sustainability, forestry and environment studies.

The donation is coupled with state appropriations of $750,000 to support the annual operating costs of the new community college campus and $530,000 annually to Good Will-Hinckley to fund operating costs.

Officials with the Alfond Foundation said the purchased property includes an academic building, recreational center and an organic farm. The latter will become the home of Kennebec Valley Community College’s new associate degree program in agricultural sciences, the first degree of its kind to be offered in Maine.

“That we can assist the Maine Community College System and Kennebec Valley Community College while also investing in the future of Good Will-Hinckley, makes this gift a win-win,” said Alfond Board of Trustees Chair Greg Powell, in a statement.

The $1.5 million to Good Will-Hinckley will support operations and future scholarships. 

LePage said the money fits his administration’s firm support of charter schools. Last year the Legislature passed a law that will allow 10 charter schools over the next 10 years. Good Will-Hinckley hopes to earn that certification soon. 

Charter schools, LePage said, will allow students to pursue academic interests that they may not otherwise be offered in a public school setting.

“The mountain will always be there,” he said. “But there are a lot of different ways to get to the top of that mountain.”

The governor said the grant to the community college will help address rising demand for a post secondary education that isn’t a four-year college degree.  

Maine’s seven community colleges are some of the fastest growing in the nation seeing 83 percent increase in enrollment over the past nine years. That growth, however, left 4,000 students last year unable to enroll in their preferred program of study.

State officials believe the community college system is best fit to assist in economic growth because the colleges can tailor their curriculum to the skill sets sought by large employers. 

“Harold Alfond dreamed bigger than most of us, and through his foundation his big dreams continue with this remarkable gift to the people of Maine,” said MCCS President John Fitzsimmons in expressing his appreciation for the gift. “This investment will create a new college campus and will mean that 1,500 to 2,000 more Maine people have access to a college education. It is a gift that will transform the lives of generations of Maine people.”

Good Will-Hinckley’s September 2011 launch of the Maine Academy of Natural Sciences marked a significant turn of events for the school. In 2009, the organization was forced to suspend most of its programs, following a shift in state and federal funding.

smistler@sunjournal.com

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