DIXFIELD – Higher costs for fuel, excavation and building supplies has driven the price of SAD 21’s new elementary school from $10 million to $14 million, Superintendent Thomas Ward said Monday.
The good news is that the state is to pay most of it.
When Canton, Carthage and Dixfield merged with Peru last year, the state set aside $10 million to build the consolidated district a new elementary school.
Another factor in the deal is the $8.26 tax rate that all four communities have to raise locally for education.
“As long as we stay above it, the state will pay. These four communities have always adequately funded education,” Ward said.
Of the $14,012,035 total cost, the state share is $13,511,527. The remainder is to be covered by the $230,508 that the four towns had already set aside for the project, $120,000 from a state grant, and $150,000 for an additional multipurpose athletic field.
However, the $150,000 must first be approved by voters at the districtwide referendum on Tuesday, Dec. 13. It is Article 3 on the warrant.
A public hearing is to be held on the referendum at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 6, in the Dirigo High School cafeteria on Weld Street.
Because SAD 21 directors opted for solar panels to reduce the cost of the building’s hot water needs, and energy-saving photovoltaic cell usage, that qualified the district for the $120,000 Maine High Performance Schools grant, Ward said.
The school is to be on 35 acres on the south side of Route 108 in Peru.
Pending voter approval of the referendum, the district is to close on the three properties that make up the 35 acres. The project architect, Portland Design Team of Portland, would then draft construction drawings so that the project could be put out to bid.
Once the new school is built and ready for use, the district is to close Peru Elementary School and downsize Dixfield Elementary School, because the new facility is to be more fuel- and energy-efficient, Ward said.
Canton Elementary School was closed this year and its students merged into the Peru school.
Comments are no longer available on this story