Session set for comments, questions on future of West Paris school

Paris Elementary School staff greet West Paris students Monday morning as they arrive at the school on High Street. About 120 students in grades 1 to 6 were forced to relocate to schools in Paris and Norway after Agnes Gray Elementary School was closed Feb. 6 due to unsafe conditions. Brewster Burns

WEST PARIS — A public session to hear residents’ thoughts on the recent closure of Agnes Gray Elementary School and its future is set for 6 p.m. Thursday after the Select Board meeting at the Town Office at 25 Kingsbury St.

Selectman Eli White said the town’s two representatives on the Maine School Administrative District 17 board of directors, Donna Marshall and Veronica Poland, are gathering and organizing residents’ comments to be presented at the 22-member school board Monday, March 4, at the Central Office in South Paris. The forum is to facilitate their efforts.

The 1880s two-story, wood-frame school at 170 Main St. was abruptly closed Feb. 6 by Superintendent Heather Manchester after the district received a report from an architectural firm that is was unsafe for people to be inside.

The decision, which had directors’ support, followed a board meeting Feb. 5 at which representatives of LaVallee Brensinger Architects of Portland presented findings from their inspection and said the building was not safe for students or staff. The report cited multiple safety failures: lack of adequate fire protection and functional emergency exits; outdated and poorly functioning plumbing and electrical systems; the roof that sheds decayed shingles during poor weather; exterior and interior stairwells that are not up to code; and a boiler that is years beyond its serviceable life.

Representatives Joe Britton Jr. and Lance Whitehead advised the board about possible next steps and estimated the cost to remedy immediate problems at about $657,000 and take at least several months to complete. To tackle all the school’s failures would require spending $4.5 million over five or more years, they said.

About 120 students from grades 1 to 6 were moved to Paris Elementary School on High Street and Guy E. Rowe Elementary School on Main Street in Norway.

The town’s other school, Legion Memorial on Kingsbury St., serves prekindergarten and kindergarten students.

At the West Paris Select Board meeting Feb. 8, residents shared their concerns and questions about the condition of the school and its future, with many wanting to keep it. White told residents that Manchester and school board Chairman Troy Ripley of Paris were unable to accept his invitation to the meeting.

On Monday, Town Manager Joy Downing said she received a brief phone call from Manchester, who said the closure is temporary, but indefinite. Next steps will be for the school board to assess the critical issues that need to be addressed and determine costs and timing to reopen the building, Downing said Manchester told her.

Downing said a group of West Paris officials walked through the building Monday with district Facilities Director Jason Lampert to view its condition firsthand. Besides Downing, they included Selectmen White, Shawn Boutilier and Wade Rainey, Code Enforcement Officer Kingston Brown, Fire Chief Mike Henderson, state Rep. John Andrews of Paris, district Building Committee member Nick DiConzo of West Paris, and Marshall.

White said his intent of the walk-through was to gather information ahead of any communications with the school district or state officials about the school’s future.

Downing said it was not an official safety inspection and no recommendations or findings would be released by Kingston or Henderson. Any report will be issued by the Office of State Fire Marshal, she said.

MSAD 17 initiated the process to replace Agnes Gray school and Oxford Hills Middle School in Paris seven years ago by applying to the Maine Department of Education’s Major Capital School Construction Program for funding. The schools were on the approved projects list in 2017-2018 rating cycle, with Agnes Gray coming in sixth place and the middle school coming in seventh on the list of nine recommended for funding.

Taking the long view that a new school would eventually be built in West Paris, going back at least a decade, budgeting for maintenance and improvements has not been a priority of previous district boards and leaders.

Holding hands, Agnes Gray Elementary School first graders Willow Austin, left, and Kynlee Farnum wait Monday to be escorted to their new classroom at Paris Elementary School. They were among about 120 students in grades 1 to 6 who were relocated to schools in Paris and Norway after their school in West Paris was abruptly closed Feb. 6 by Maine School Administrative District 17 Superintendent Heather Manchester due to unsafe conditions. Brewster Burns