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Maine
Renovation, Reuse of Old Schools Encouraged by Maine's State Board of Education
''Where schools are built can have a major impact on the character and growth of a community,'' points out the Bangor Daily News staff, welcoming school siting changes solidified by the State Board of Education (SBE) in July, when it removed the minimum school acreage requirements and told districts to consider renovation or reuse portions of old schools before building new ones.
The rescinded requirements had been forcing districts to find at least five acres for a new elementary school, and at least 10 and 15 acres for a middle and high school, respectively, unless a district proved it lacked such a minimum site and satisfied the other board's criteria on a smaller parcel.
The gradual and now decisive shift in school construction patterns, the newspaper staff recalls, dates back to recommendations from a 1998 panel, appointed by Independent Governor Angus King, including a requirement to build schools in areas designated locally for growth, to limit sprawl and foster school-community links. The panel also called for involving the State Planning Office (SPO) in the school construction review process, with the office interested in maximizing pedestrian access to schools, a good goal, the staff observes, ''given kids' growing waistlines.''
Previously, says a former panel member, Department of Education official Jim Riem, voters rejected 17 percent of school construction projects, but they have approved all of them since the shift toward community-oriented schools began. ''Building a new school is a major undertaking,'' the staff reasserts. ''Making sure it is in the right place is crucial.'' Bangor Daily News 9/23/2006
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