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RSU 23 building committee to pursue state funding; application due April 14, 2017
Summary
The district’s building committee will pursue a 2017–18 state facility funding application after a presentation by Jeff Larimer (Harriman); committee will inspect schools, coordinate with DOE contact Scott Brown, and continue work through July 2018 while keeping current schools operational.
The RSU 23 building committee plans to pursue state facility funding for the 2017–18 cycle, the board heard at its Jan. 19 meeting.
Peter Flaherty summarized the Jan. 5 building-committee meeting and said Jeff Larimer of Harriman presented a proposed timeline for the 2017–18 application cycle. The application deadline the committee cited is April 14, 2017. Superintendent John Suttie said he will contact Scott Brown at the Department of Education to clarify how the state evaluates ‘minimal receiving’ districts and to confirm which projects would be eligible for reimbursement.
Board members discussed the criteria the state uses to rank projects — including facility condition, presence of modular classrooms and projected population — and emphasized that state funding typically covers standard school-building costs on a per-pupil basis but does not usually fund extras such as athletic turf, which towns sometimes finance separately.
Flaherty said the committee will continue work through July 2018 to complete the application process and to inspect each school; the committee intends to prepare separate applications for each of the district’s three schools rather than a single combined submission. Suttie and committee members noted the district must also plan to keep buildings maintained and operable for the next eight to 10 years while the funding process proceeds.
The board did not approve construction funding at the meeting; members stressed that next steps depend on where the district ranks on the state’s list and, if state funding is not forthcoming, on subsequent decisions to seek local funding or other resources.
