By Rick Wright

Staff Writer

Wanted: parents with public school children, parents with private school children, residents with no children and senior citizens.

If you are a South Portland resident who falls into one of these categories, the communication subcommittee of the Secondary Schools Facilities Committee wants you.

Your job? Help shape a message that will convince city voters to approve a bond by referendum to renovate South Portland High School.

The work is temporary. After participating in a single workshop to produce the message, members will be released from duty with no further obligation, according to School Superintendent Suzanne Godin.

The issue was discussed at length at the facilities committee’s meeting March 25. 

The subcommittee is comprised of Godin; facilities committee member Ross Little; Susan Adams, a school activist in the community; City Councilor Tom Blake; and Gene Swiger, a facilities committee member. Don Russell, a marketing consultant, is donating his time to the subcommittee until the end of May.

The workshop, which will be facilitated by Russell and last about four hours, will be held after April 5.

The agenda will include identifying key messages to convey to the public, getting an idea of who supporters are, how to use publicity and the use of PowerPoint presentations, e-mails and a Web site. Other ideas include developing a tactical plan and establishing a calendar to implement all parts of the campaign. 

Ideas from the workshop will help develop a plan to sell the $41.9 million high school renovation to city voters. It is a scaled-down version of the $51 million proposal South Portland voters defeated in 2007.

The subcommittee’s plan will be presented to the facilities committee May 20.

“Before I need to move on, you’ll have a document,” Russell said. “This is not just communication, this is influence.”

Russell said time is needed to conduct polls, do surveys, and fully educate the public about the issue. He encouraged the facilities committee to delay the referendum for one year.

“A November 2010 referendum date does not make sense to me. I think June of 2011 is your best shot,” Russell said.

A decision on whether to hold the referendum in November would have to be made by late July or early August, according to City Clerk Susan Mooney. Mooney said the question would have to go through a bond ordinance process that requires two city council meetings.

Russell said the cross-section of citizens participating in the workshop will help the school district appeal to more voters in their same demographic group.

Godin said she is looking for six to eight people from each of these cross-sections and urged facilities committee members to e-mail her names of potential participants by April 2. She said her office would send invitations to all nominees.

Megan Welter, a facilities committee member, asked if nominees should be supporters or skeptics of the high school renovation plan. 

“They should be likely voters and fall within one of those groups,” Russell said. 

“We need to get the parents behind this plan and get them to vote for us,” said Little, who also is a member of a community group called The Partnership for South Portland Schools.  

The Partnership for South Portland Schools supports the school system by giving parents and community members a forum to express their opinions about city schools.

“The job now is to get the information out to sell this project. That’s the reality,” Godin said. “Our goal is to get this passed. That’s our objective.”

Maine recently received $41.3 million in federal funding for school construction bonds, but Godin said it probably would not help with the city’s high school renovation plan. 

“We are looking into it but my understanding is those funds are for shovel ready projects. We do not have an approved project by the voters,” Godin said.

In the meantime, the school system is preparing applications for state funding to renovate or replace the two middle schools. These applications must be submitted to the Maine Department of Education by June 15.

The board of education on March 8 voted 6-1 to approve the facilities committee high school renovation plan. The board decided to deal with the funding issue separately from the building plan.

The board did not establish a timeline to decide the funding question.

At the same meeting, the board unanimously approved a $37.8 million dollar budget and a 1.5 percent increase in the city’s tax rate.

The South Portland City Council will vote on the budget April 26. City residents will vote May 6 whether to validate it.

The tax rate increase would raise $506,623. The money would go to a secondary school capital reserve fund, which would be used to pay debt service on renovations and additions to the middle and high schools.

For a South Portland resident who owns a home with an assessed value of $200,000, the increase would add $26 to the annual property tax bill.

Rick Wright can  be reached at 282-4337, ext. 237. ws@inthesentry.com.