The Town Council and School Board held a joint workshop on Monday, June 17, 2024 to review the latest school building project solution developed by Harriman Architects. Lisa Sawin, Architect and Principal at Harriman, first presented the new proposal to the School Board on June 11.  Based on direction provided by the board in May, Sawin and team returned with a new option -- the "Middle Ground Design" estimated at $89.85 million.  This solution is a compromise that meets educational needs and financial parameters while adhering to a community-developed design statement: "A secure and nurturing community hub that fosters a joy of learning and collaboration by supporting students' discovery of their full potential."

The middle ground design addresses the identified barriers to education: Safety and security; inadequate vehicular and pedestrian site circulation; outdated classrooms, limiting educational methods; sprawling layouts and long travel distances; ineffective oversight from main offices; nurse's office limitations; deficiency of natural light; complications from shared cafeteria; inadequate storage facilities; need for technology upgrades; outdated and inefficient mechanical systems; and inadequate performing arts spaces.  

The design implements educational and architectural guiding principals used for making design decisions: Joy of learning; warm, safe and inviting; STEM and art integration; collaboration and connection; flexible and adaptable learning; school as a community resource; outdoor nature connections; and fiscally responsible.  In addition, the design includes prioritized design patterns which support a 21st Century school design:

1. Safety and security
2. Gathering and collaboration hubs
3. Healthy buildings
4. Outdoor learning and play 
5. Agile classrooms
6. Sustainability
7. Flexible learning spaces and furniture
8. Classroom neighborhoods
9. Professional work areas
10. Extended learning areas 
11. Breakout sessions
12. Enrichment spaces

The following images shows exactly how/where the above 12 items are accounted in a new middle school building and a renovated elementary school building:

The middle-ground solution also supports the Town Council's June 10th-approved design-process protocol document which states that a school building solution will, "Ensure the health and safety of our students and staff, the Town Council intends to put forth a bond referendum amount sufficient, at a minimum, to cover the costs of building deficiencies, critically needed repairs, and necessary security upgrades at all three schools as reported by Harriman Architects and the School Building Advisory Committee."  

Pond Cove Elementary project items:

Cape Elizabeth High School project items: 

Following presentations from Sawin and Chuck Adam of CBRE Heery, the floor was opened to questions and comments from the council and board.  Councilor Penny Jordan prefaced her questions by complimenting Sawin and Adam, "I think you guys did a really solid job bringing together the areas of concern for both of the options that we had put forward. I think the fact that we have cooling in this building now, also the gym and many other aspects that you incorporated is great."  Jordan asked how confident Adam and Sawin are with the the projected cost estimate of $89.95 million given that the, "It's a bigger building with more features?"

Sawin explained that when assessing the elementary school, they reviewed changing the entrance from previous location in various options and looked into maintaining the Land Water Conservation Fund on site. This adjustment eliminated the need to relocate fields off-site, resulting in significant cost savings in the design phase.  By moving them on-site instead, the expense of constructing additional fields elsewhere was removed. Additionally, the site layout efficiencies contributed to saving millions of dollars in site work. Sawin added that soft costs have also been refined significantly.  While typically 25%, "We have gone line by line between all the different categories and we are down to 22%."  Additionally, items originally slated for repair, which have since been completed by the school department have been removed.  Some repair and construction items that were double counted were also removed.  "I am very confident," Sawin answered regarding the accuracy of the estimated cost.

Adam added that independent of Harriman, CBRE Heery continually priced the options with in-house experts who specialize in cost consultation and estimation, keeping abreast of industry standards and market fluctuations in materials like steel and drywall. With this scrutiny, they are confident in the project costs, even amid market volatility.  "We don't put our estimates together lightly; if we put it in front of you, we trust it," Adam said.

School Board Vice Chair Philip Saucier asked where the additional 3000 square feet is represented in the middle-ground solution.  Sawin answered that the majority is found in the high-school-sized gymnasium and the larger cafeteria.  "As we dialed in with leadership at the middle school that they needed two lunch periods [instead of three] and sized that accordingly for two," Sawin added.

Town Council Chair Timothy Reiniger commented that Councilor Anderson did extensive work in advance of the workshop by submitting a comprehensive list of questions for Harriman and Superintendent Record, and asked Anderson if her questions had been answered.  Anderson said that most of her questions had been answered, but wanted to know if some of the educational needs identified for the elementary school had been set aside with the new option. Sawin explained that these had not been set aside, but in conversations with the Superintendent, items such as the world language program could continue under the current model.  Additionally, the gifted and talented program shares space with the world language department and maintains a designated area.  Behavioral analysts have been relocated within the new design and will have a new office. The redesign also includes two conference rooms which can be used for one-on-one meetings throughout the school. Regarding a Response To Intervention (RTI) suite, currently the interventionists are located in three different places, "Ideally, they would be together in a suite, but they can continue to operate from their current locations," she said.

Councilor Jordan asked Superintendent Record about whether sending some of the identified repairs at the elementary and high school to the state's School Revolving Renovation Fund was guaranteed.  Record said that while they cannot guarantee the state will award the funds to Cape Elizabeth, his team had confidence that the items that will be submitted match high priority items of the state.  

Interim Town Manager Michael McGovern went over some recent financial updates from the Town's Bond Financial Advisor Joseph Cuetara, which showed that the estimate for borrowing today has gone up from 3.5% to 3.75%.  Should the project go forward as currently proposed, the first budget cycle to include the project would be fiscal year 2027 with a tax impact of about 1.94%.  The second year, FY2028 would be about 5.5% and in FY2029 it would be around 3.25%.  From there, McGovern said, it begins to be, "A penny up, a penny down every year, for the rest of the 30-year life of the bonds."  When added all together, the tax increase at any one time is never more than 6%.  Compared to the School Building Advisory Committee's recommended Option B at $85 million, the tax difference between that and the middle-ground solution, "Isn't all that much," McGovern said.

Near the end of the discussion, Councilor Anderson said, "I think the proposal is fabulous, and let's do it; it's almost too good to be true."  Councilor Jordan said, "You have done a fabulous job.  I can support it and I will support it.  I just ask that you keep chipping away at the total price, but I think the direction we are headed is really positive."

All images are courtesy of Harriman.  Materials from the June 17 Joint Workshop are available here.  Please note that due to technical difficulties, the video recording is compromised.  The first five minutes of the workshop are not included.  To help with audio, closed captioning is available via CETV and YouTube.

The School Board will hold a public forum to present the "Middle Ground" school design on Monday, June 24 at 6:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers.