The Camden-Rockport Middle School Vision Committee has been working for the last six months to explore options toward resolution to the current status of the middle school building. In February 2015, the voters of Camden and Rockport turned down a bond issue that would have funded a new middle school on the site of the present school in Camden. However, the issues with the current school building remain unresolved. The fact is that the current middle school building is failing, and while immediate concerns are being addressed, a longer term solution is required.

The Vision Committee, composed of residents and interested parties, was formed to explore options for resolution. The committee would like to share those options with the community and seek input on the best way to move forward.

There are three potential options:

Build New: This option would result in a brand new facility on the Knowlton Street campus. A new facility would be a long term investment in education by creating a space that is energy efficient, appropriately sized (approximately 30 percent smaller), and designed to meet current and future educational programming.

Renovate: This option entails a fairly major renovation of the facility to not only address structural and systems issues, but to also address energy and operational issues and some educational challenges. Some of the current facility would be torn down, but MET would remain.

Patch: The option to patch is the option to "do nothing." The building is old and failing and does not meet basic life safety codes in many areas. This option would address structural issues, life safety, ADA compliance, and deferred maintenance to maintain a building. All existing buildings would remain.

The committee has put together more information on these options including costs for each, budget backup documentation, costs for comparable buildings in other towns and a list of conditions in the current building requiring remediation. The information is available on the website crmsmiddlematters.info. There is a survey at the bottom on the Community Outreach page of the website, and community input is encouraged. You can also access the survey directly here.

The Vision Committee will hold three public meetings to explain the options and seek feedback.

· Friday, Oct. 14, 6-7 p.m., with a spaghetti supper, Camden-Rockport Middle School

· Tuesday, Oct. 18, 6:30-7:30 p.m., Rockport Opera House

· Saturday, Oct. 29, 3-4 p.m., Camden Public Library

The committee hopes that community members will attend a meeting and access the website and give consideration to this information to aid the committee in making a recommendation to the School Board of the best option. Together the community will have the opportunity to create the right environment for our youth.