SAD 52 school board takes bus tour to scope out needed repairs

TURNER — SAD 52 directors and administrators took a 2½-hour bus tour Thursday to check out four schools while they consider pursuing a bond for repairs.

“It’s one thing to present to the board different problems with sidewalks and curbing or bus loops, it’s another thing to get a visual,” Superintendent Kimberly Brandt said Friday. “Just like when you own a house, if you defer maintenance and repairs over time, suddenly you end up with a lot of projects.”

The group visited Greene Central, Leeds Central, Turner Primary and Leavitt Area High schools. They also talked about the needs at Tripp Middle School and Turner Elementary, but didn’t have time to tour those, she said.

Dan Labrie, transportation and facilities’ director, organized the tour, outlined the needs at each stop and fielded questions.

Brandt, in her third year as superintendent, said the tour wasn’t something she’d done with the board before. Next up is making a list of priorities and making decisions on the next step, which could happen as soon as this fall.

“Because there are so many potential projects in there, we didn’t have specific dollar amounts,” Brandt said. “We have been doing a little bit of work in the background to try to find out what, if we were to talk about doing all of these projects, what might that look like, would it be a potential bond, but we’re in the very early stages of those discussions.”

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SAD 52 school board members and administrators toured four schools in Greene, Leeds and Turner on Thursday evening to scope out needed repairs. On the bus, from front to back, left side, are board members JoAnn Nickerson, Richard Gross, Carlos Gnipp, Bob Allen and Jessaka Nichols, Danielle Harris, principal of Leeds Central School, and Ryan Patrie, principal of Turner Primary School. On the right, front to back, are board members Pam Sirois and Betsy Bullard, Business Manager Michele Coates, Athletic Director Ryan Laroche and Eben Shaw, principal of Leavitt Area High School. (Submitted photo)