By Nate Jones

Staff Writer 

South Portland residents may be in favor of a renovation or reconstruction of the high school, but not willing to pay for it, according to results from an exit poll conducted by the Secondary School Facilities Committee (SSFC) during last month’s general election. 

Nearly 1,600 voters participated in the survey, a number Superintendent Suzanne Godin said was “phenomenal.”

“We also received 19 single-spaced pages of comments,” she said. “It’s a lot of tremendous feedback.”

Nearly 80 percent of respondents said they would support a new project for the high school building, although nearly half said they would either spend less than $5 million or were not sure. Fifteen percent of participants said they would support a project costing between $41 and $50 million, 14 percent said they would not support any funding at all and 2 percent said they would vote for “whatever it takes.” 

“[$5 million] is a drop in the bucket,” Godin said. “The reality is we’re looking between $36 and $49 million.”

After voters rejected a proposed $56 million rebuild project last year, Godin said the SSFC – which has been meeting for close to six years – came up with a one, three and five year maintenance plan that would serve the needs of the buildings for up to 20 years, an option with a price tag of $36 million that at least one local official considers realistic. 

 “I’m a big one for long-term planning, but we simply cannot ask voters to support even a minor bond issue,” Mayor and SSFC member Tom Blake said. “We have a responsibility to maintain the buildings we have and we should support the maintenance plan.”

The results of the exit poll were presented to the board of education on Monday and Godin said the SSFC hopes to “get some direction” from the board next month. 

The results come just prior to a joint meeting between the city council and board of education to discuss next year’s school budget, scheduled earlier this week. 

“The [fiscal year 2010] budget will be very challenging,” City Manager James Gailey wrote in preparation documents for the meeting. “There is a fine line between a responsible budgeting and the offering of efficient service delivery the community expects. It is up to the city administration to be creative and find ways in keeping the tax levy down, while providing [efficient] services.”