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YORK, Maine — Voters will be asked to approve $3.5 million in upgrades to York High School’s science rooms that administrators say are critical for learning.
School officials say the high school’s seven science rooms lack space, tools and proper access to utilities like water and propane that are necessary for classwork and labs. Students who have used the rooms for science classes agree it is difficult to get work done there.
The proposal would cost a total of $3,486,250 and appear as Article 64 on the May 17 referendum ballot, funded through a bond. Superintendent Tim Doak and Principal Amanda Suttie said while students are doing well in science based on state assessments, outdated classrooms are holding them back.
“They’re really not preparing our high school students for college-level science once they leave high school,” Suttie said. “We’re really kind of doing our students a disservice with the classrooms we have now.”
York High School science rooms outdated, lack amenities
The science rooms were built in 2000, according to Suttie. The school itself was built in 1976. Doak has said it is unlikely a new school will be built in the future because of the recent investment into the school’s state-of-the-art auditorium. He said York will therefore continue to rely on the existing science rooms.
Suttie said the safety of the rooms is the biggest concern. She said building codes have changed in 25 years since the rooms were built. She also said some of the lab spaces are not flame-retardant.
The rooms feature fixed tables that cannot move, making it difficult for classes to be flexible in organizing students for science activities, Doak and Suttie said. Some critical amenities are missing from the rooms, and all have outdated plumbing and HVAC, they said.
“They all need some form of water. Some need propane. Some need hoods, like exhaust hoods. Some rooms need eye wash stations,” Suttie said.
The science rooms are each intended for different uses to allow for studies that range from biology to physics.
Jack Goldberg, who graduated from York High School last year, recalled taking several science classes and finding it difficult to get work done and properly clean his area. He said they used equipment that was decades old and used sinks that lacked proper water pressure and depth.
Voters to weigh $3.5 million cost of science rooms
The project will be funded through a 20-year bond, the first payment of which will occur in fiscal year 2029. That first payment would be $325,556 according to the ballot question. Approving the project would bring the total town indebtedness to $41,495,350.
The Budget Committee and the Selectboard both unanimously supported the project. Their respective 7-0 and 5-0 votes will appear on the ballot when voters go to the polls in May.
The proposal comes in a year when school officials also proposed an 11.84% budget increase that was ultimately trimmed to 8.6% after backlash from residents. Doak said passing the project is critical to the school district. He said delaying the project would only force the school department to do the work at a higher cost down the line.
“Schools are no different than someone’s personal home if you don’t invest in them,” Doak said. “It’s going to cost you in the long run.”
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