PORTLAND (WGME) — As RSU 10 works to figure out the next steps after closing Mountain Valley Middle School, many districts across the state are facing similar challenges with aging school infrastructure.
Back in August, the CBS13 I-Team surveyed every school district in the state to find out how old their buildings are.
We found the majority are well over a half-century old, and funding to fix or replace them is too scarce to meet the growing need.
The I-Team found approvals through Maine’s “Major Capital School Construction Program,” which most districts rely on to repair or replace buildings, have only gone down over the decades, and application openings have become more spread out.
Twenty projects were approved in 2004/2005,16 in 2010/2011 and just nine during the last opening in 2017/2018.
It’s something state leaders say is due to an increased need and increased costs.
But last week, Governor Janet Mills signed an executive order to create a commission that will be tasked with studying how school construction projects are funded, with an overall goal of getting schools upgraded more quickly.
“When 74 schools made the list and only nine were granted state funding, that shows you there is a backlog of school facilities need repairs, and you yourself have covered the age of the school facilities, public school facilities around the state, and that’s a signal,” Mills said.
The 13-member commission created by the governor will have six months to create a final report and then give policy recommendations to the legislature.