West Paris resident Dale Piirainen raises a question about communications between Maine School Administrative District 17 and West Paris officials during a Select Board meeting Thursday. Nicole Carter/Advertiser Democrat

WEST PARIS — With the May 14 referendum approaching over future use of Agnes Gray Elementary School, West Paris residents were refused entry into the building Thursday to assess its condition after vandalism was discovered.

Town Manager Joy Downing told the Select Board and about 25 meeting attendees that she was informed by Maine School Administrative District 17 Finance Director Carrie Colley that due to a breach at the school that included vandalism and theft of its fire extinguishers, town officials would not be allowed to hold a scheduled walk-through.

Downing said she received conflicting information about accessing the building during several phone calls with Colley over the course of the day. By late afternoon she said Colley informed her that School Board Chair Troy Ripley had directed her to cancel the walk-through due to damage to stairs.

During Thursday night’s Select Board meeting, officials asserted that lack of access to the building in a timely manner will prohibit voters from determining whether to authorize West Paris to invest more than $1 million to operate the school independent of SAD 17.

“We will not be able to postpone the referendum,” Downing said. “She (Colley) said we have architects’ reports we can go by.”

Resident Dale Piirainen, a past director and chairman of SAD 17’s school board, took issue with the chain of command Downing described.

“Why is the point of contact and directing authority falling to the finance director? Where is the superintendent? The assistant superintendent? The facilities director?” Piirainen asked.

During a phone interview Thursday evening, Ripley told the Advertiser Democrat that West Paris initiated the request to tour the building with Colley, and she was responding to ongoing communications during a school vacation week where many district officials, including Superintendent Heather Manchester, are out of town.

His concern, Ripley said, is that Colley granted West Paris permission to conduct municipal business at the school, not the general public. With West Paris’ fire chief and code officer, and the Maine State Fire Marshall, agreeing with architectural inspections done in 2023 that determined Agnes Gray is not safe to occupy, Ripley said it was the district’s determination that limiting wide access to a vandalized building with potentially hazardous conditions is in the public’s best interest.

“My understanding was the West Paris Select Board’s request to enter the building was so that the municipal officers could convey to their constituents the condition of the building,” Ripley said in a written statement. “However, because they did not convey to SAD 17 that they wished to have public access to a building that has been determined to be unsafe, pause in access is warranted.

“This desire to have public access requires more due diligence on behalf of the district before granted. As was articulated to the West Paris town manager, the district intends to work hand in hand with West Paris to help their citizens make well informed decisions.”

By statute, any gathering of a quorum of elected municipal leaders is considered a public meeting, open to members of the public. The West Paris Select Board would be legally bound to make a walk-through at the school open to public participation.

Acknowledging the law, Ripley stated that as Agnes Gray is the property of the school district, limiting public access was within its jurisdiction.