PARIS — Maine School Administrative District 17 should expect a big boost in its efforts to turn the lights on at Agnes Gray Elementary School in West Paris, possibly as much as $480,000 to repair safety issues and code violations so students can return to their hometown classrooms.

Maine House Rep. Sawin Millett and Sen. Rick Bennett have teamed up to add a provision to the state’s supplemental budget, which was signed by Gov. Janet Mills April 22. It allows up to $480,000 in unexpended funds be applied toward rehabbing the 130-year-old school.

Agnes Gray was abruptly closed three months ago when engineering and architectural firm released an inspection with numerous concerns and hazards, including unsafe building access points, lack of egress, plumbing system failures and other issues.

“I attended a school district workshop about [potential] consolidation and the issues facing Agnes Gray,” Bennett told the Advertiser Democrat. “Sawin [Millett] and I both sit on the Appropriations Committee. He has served as Maine’s education commissioner in the past. As we looked over the supplemental budget we noticed that three school districts involved in consolidation projects were eligible for construction grants.”

Those districts were facing similar issues as Agnes Gray: consolidating students in SAD 4 Guildford, 41 Milo and 46 Dexter into a regionalized high school.

Using the regional construction project as a model, Bennett and Millett wrote a similar addendum to the supplemental budget that provides grants to elementary schools that have experienced sudden closures for health and safety reasons.

Bennett said he knows of no other school besides Agnes Gray going through such a crisis, but they made sure similar help may be available for other districts that find themselves in the same situation.

The grant for the three eastern Maine districts and Oxford Hills are conditional. They will only be activated if at the end of the 2023-24 fiscal year the state Department of Education, General Purpose Aid for Local Schools program has an unexpended fund balance. SAD 17 must provide matching funds, although it is not a dollar-to-dollar requirement. It extends to certain construction expenses, including site, engineering and architectural design as well as required environmental tests.

Bennett added he expects there will be enough available money in the general purpose aid account at the end of next month for Agnes Gray’s repairs.

While SAD 17’s administration was surprised by the last-minute state support as it starts the long process of rehabbing Agnes Gray, Superintendent Heather Manchester said they were ready to accept whatever help is available to reopen the school.

“I am working with our operations and finance committees to develop a plan so we can take advantage of the opportunity presented to our district,” she said in a written statement.

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