Staff Writer 

South Portland School Superintendent Suzanne Godin estimated it will take tens of millions of dollars to fix structural problems at the high school, as were identified in a report by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges Commission (NEASCC) on Public Secondary Schools released earlier this month. 

On Monday, Councilor Tom Coward asked Principal Jeanne Crocker what would happen if the repairs did not happen, causing the school to lose its accreditation with NEASCC.

“All high schools in Maine are accredited,” she said. “The impact would be quite significant, I dare say, on real estate values. All schools are held to a universal set of standards. When accreditation is not in place, there are question marks.”

Maine School Administrative District 33 Superintendent Fern Desjardins said the principal of Wisdom Middle High School in St. Agatha in Aroostook County – with students in grades 7 to 12 – feels differently. The school, founded in 1965, has never been recognized by NEASCC, she said.

 “[Wisdom Middle High School] has never gone through the accreditation process,” Desjardins said. “It hasn’t stopped our students from attending college. We just had a student graduate from Yale and we’ve sent students to West Point.”

On Tuesday, Crocker said she felt there was a distinct difference between a school that has chosen not to participate in the accreditation process and one that loses its status with NEASCC.

“With a school that hasn’t enrolled in the accreditation you don’t know if they meet the standards but with a school that’s lost it you know they’re not,” she said.

Maine Department of Education Spokesperson David Connerty-Marin said schools are not required to gain or earn back NEASCC accreditation. He said there are 105 high schools in the state that are recognized by NEASCC as being accredited, but could not give an exact number for how many schools were not.

“Clearly there are a number of schools that don’t have that accreditation, but we don’t have a list of them,” he said.

Although Crocker said she considered letting South Portland’s accreditation expire to save the cost of going through the “lengthy and expensive” accreditation process, she said she is afraid of academic repercussions for students.

“[College] admissions folks pay attention to whether or not high schools are accredited,” she said.

Wisdom Middle High School Guidance Director Mary Warren said an average of 81 percent of graduates have gone on to higher education after high school during the past two years, which is 2 percent less than South Portland’s average college enrollment during the same time period.

“Where accreditation comes into play is when we’re not familiar with the school,” University of Maine Director of Admissions Sharon Oliver said. “[Lack of accreditation] probably isn’t single-handedly going to make a difference. If the student has bad grades or isn’t performing well – it would have to be a combination of things. We consider home schooled students and there is no accreditation there.”

In comparing college acceptance rates, Warren said it was also important to consider that the graduating class at Wisdom had not exceeded 30 students since 2006 – less than 12 percent of last year’s graduating class in South Portland.

“You have to take into account that we are tiny,” she said.

College enrollment statistics aside, Coward said he agreed with Crocker’s assessment of the importance of having an accredited high school in South Portland in relation to the real estate market.

“It’s difficult to make comparisons, especially when you have such different districts,” he said. “Being unaccredited is a disaster for South Portland. The general assumption is that everybody has good schools in Maine, but without accreditation it is much harder to scratch that itch. Property values would drop.”

Godin said NEASCC could consider South Portland’s accreditation status next month.

Earlier this week, a majority of the council was receptive to a proposal to include a $5.8 million school maintenance bond on the June referendum ballot that Godin said would begin to address some NEASCC concerns. 

“This $5.8 million is moving forward,” she said.

A $5.8 million bond was presented to the council address “absolute necessary needs” – including new electrical and safety systems at two middle schools and the high school – although Godin said the Secondary Schools Facilities Committee have identified more than $12 million in maintenance projects for next year and still support a $48 million rebuild of the high school. 

“We are asking you to grapple with all of this,” Godin said. “We are all behind it, we’ve worked since 2004. You as a council need to decide what your own comfort level is.”

The comfort level of councilors was disturbing to resident Albert Dimillo, who said the council “cannot trust anything [the SSFC] does.” He said the most recent renovation plan for the high school – presented at several SSFC public hearings in October – was more than 81,000 square feet larger than required by the current student population.

“They want to build a school twice the size of state standards,” he said. “They do not know what is going on in this city. They represent the 25 percent of uninformed voters who voted for the $56 million bond [last year] and I represent the 75 percent who voted against it.”

While other councilors said they would support the $5.8 million in lieu of more expensive options, Coward said he needed time to “digest” the SSFC’s analysis and reserved comment. Councilor Jim Soule also refused to weigh in on the proposal, but for a different reason.

“I really want to make sure due diligence has been done to lobby for stimulus money,” Soule said. “I’m non-comittal on the [$5.8 million bond question] until [the SSFC] shows me they have been in touch with [Sen. Susan] Collins or [Sen. Olympia] Snowe. Someone better get in front of [the senators] and say ‘Hey, here’s our plight.’ I think it’s quite a compelling case and if they need someone to talk to these legislators, I will.”