PARIS — Maine School Administrative District 17 has issued a call for community volunteers to serve on one of two new school building committees. Both Oxford Hills Middle School in Paris and Oxford and Agnes Gray Elementary School in West Paris have been approved for replacement by the Maine Department of Education.
The district seeks district administrators, three school board directors, one select board official, two educators, two district staff members, two students and four community members or district parents to serve on each committee.
The Agnes Gray Elementary School on Main Street in West Paris was built in 1895 as the West Paris High School and had additions in 1910 and 1923, and again in 1939 by the federal Works Progress Administration. It has been approved by the Maine Department of Education to be replaced. Nicole Carter/Advertiser Democrat 2020 file photo
All letters of interest should be delivered to the district superintendent, Heather Manchester, at Central Office in Paris by Jan. 3 at 4 p.m.
Committees will meet on a regular basis over the course of both projects which are estimated to take five to seven years to complete.
Responsibilities for committee members include: review and approve all design and budget matters; work with contracted architects, create sub-committees as needed and review and approve all work of sub-committees.
After all letters of interest have been received, SAD 17’s operations committee will review submissions, with the school board providing final approval for each applicant. Manchester said that the administrators working on both committees will be her, Assistant Superintendent Steve Ciembroniewicz, Facilities Director Michael Manning and Finance Director Carrie Colley.
“The ability to be collaborative will be very important to the committee,” Manchester said in an email message to the Advertiser Democrat. “We would like to have a balance of people with various skill sets. We have to think of these buildings as potentially lasting for a century, so we not only need to think about our present needs, we need to imagine what the students of the future will need as they go to school.”
To accommodate the student population of Oxford Hills Middle School, SAD 17 had to split into two campuses in 2013. Currently students attend either the north campus in South Paris or the south campus off Pottle Road in Oxford. The school was selected for replacement by the Maine Department of Education earlier this year. File photo
The state approved the schools’ replacements last September. To date, district officials have met with MDOE’s school construction team, with Manning currently working to building information documentation within the district. The district has hired a consultant to complete an enrollment projection study.
A request for architectural proposals has been issued. MDOE has an outline process for the district to follow, including a request for qualifications and selection committee.
“Ideally, we’d love for people [in the community] to commit for the duration” of the project, Manchester wrote. “As far as students, those of middle school or high school age will be appropriate.”
The cost to build new schools has not been calculated yet, but by gaining state approval to replace them, Oxford Hills will receive matching funds for the projects.
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