The Great Salt Bay School Committee unanimously approved the expenditure of ESSER funds to purchase a modular classroom for the 2022-2023 school year, at a special meeting on March 17.
ESSER, or Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief, funds are akin to American Rescue Plan Act funds in that they are allocated to each school by the federal government, typically with restrictions stipulating that expenditures be related to the impact of COVID-19 on the schools in some way.
Principal Kim Schaff first proposed purchasing the modular at the committee’s Feb. 9 meeting because the school needs to add a third fourth-grade class based on enrollment projections and the school’s class-size policy. Additionally, the school will be moving the fifth and sixth grade class, which is currently using a yurt as its classroom space, into the school, creating the need for an additional classroom.
Schaff said that, without the addition of a modular, one of the music programs may have to be displaced from its classroom.
Schaff said that while GSB’s total student population is not as high as it has been in the past, the school has had to dedicate classroom spaces to additional special education and life skills programs, as well as an accelerated math program.
“You can’t just look at enrollment numbers, you have to look at all the programs that we’re offering to students within that enrollment,” she said.
Additionally, Schaff cautioned against the committee using projected enrollment to judge whether the school has enough space to accommodate a class. She said that, last year, fourth-grade enrollment was projected to be 37, but that it has now reached 43 students.
“I made that mistake of ‘we can do it with two classrooms’ this very year,” Schaff said. “It doesn’t build in the cushion for students moving into our programs.”
Schaff estimated that the modular would cost $275,000 to $300,000, with installation included. The modular will include two large classrooms, a bathroom, and a shared storage space.
GSB has $493,000 in ESSER funds left to spend until September 2024.
The committee held the special meeting a week after its regularly scheduled meeting on March 9 because of the tight timeline for ordering and installing the modular in time for the beginning of the next school year. Committee member Jason Drake said that if they were to order the modular in March, the school would receive it in late July and it would be prepared for occupancy by late August.
He said that the modular is not meant to be a permanent addition to the school, but rather an interim solution to be used for 5-10 years until the committee can create a strategic plan that will address the school’s infrastructure needs.
Kristie Houghton, a second-grade teacher at GSB, said that it is important for GSB to keep class sizes low in the coming year especially, as many students have fallen behind due to COVID-19 disrupting in-person learning.
“Because of the pandemic, we are seeing a lot of kids with broken education … I’ve got kids who are reading below kindergarten level right now,” Houghton said. “You put those two kids … into a classroom of maybe 18, maybe 22 or 23 … you’re going to have a real problem.”
Committee member Samuel Belknap said that he did not understand why some of the committee members were extensively debating the need for a modular with regards to one cohort of students when there has been a proven need over a number of cohorts.
“I think this is a demonstrated need over the history of this school that doesn’t necessitate this level of debate; there’s a clear space need and we’re at that cusp,” Belknap said.
During the public comment period, Josh Pinkham, a former member of the GSB school committee and GSB parent, said that space has been an issue at the school since he was on the board five years ago. He said that the committee had looked at a portable classroom option at the time and ultimately voted against it.
“Here we are, five years down the road, same problem … we could have had this resolved five years ago,” Pinkham said. “I would strongly encourage you (to) stop kicking the can down the road, get the space that you need.”
Pinkham added that the committee needs to begin the process of putting together a long-range strategic plan for the school that will help its members with anticipating future costs to possibly expand the school’s permanent infrastructure and meet space needs.
Veronica Babcock, special education teacher at GSB, said her program, which serves students kindergarten through fourth grade, was under consideration to be moved out to the modular classrooms and that she would be supportive of the change.
“I think it would be very helpful for my children to have a quieter space to go to; it puts kids out there that aren’t out there 100% of their days, so they’re not segregated from their school family,” Babcock said.
In a letter, former committee member Kate Kastelein of Damariscotta said she was on the committee when the proposal to purchase a modular classroom came to the board in the past and that she did not see enough of a change in the proposal from then to now to justify approving the purchase.
In other news, the board awarded a roofing contract for $400,975 to Lewiston’s Hahnel Bros. Co.
The GSB School Committee will next meet at 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 13, in the Great Salt Bay Community School library. A livestream and recordings of past meetings are available on the AOS 93 YouTube page.
