St. John Valley Could Get a Free School Rebuild Before State Funding Tightens

MSAD 33, which covers Frenchville and St. Agatha, has state approval to build a new PreK-12 school at state expense, and neighboring Madawaska is weighing whether to join the district, the Bangor Daily News reported.

The district's Dr. Levesque Elementary School burned in 2021. Since then, its PreK-12 students have shared Wisdom Middle/High School in St. Agatha, where Superintendent Ben Sirois said space is so tight that band and art share one room. MSAD 33 and RSU 1 in the Bath area were the only two districts approved for 2025-26; both lost buildings to fire.

A committee meets monthly to work out how a merger would handle governance, teacher contracts, assets and debt. Madawaska voters would decide first, then MSAD 33 voters. The districts have 573 students combined. If they unite, the new school would replace Wisdom, and Madawaska would likely keep its elementary school, Sirois said.

Sirois estimated construction will take six to eight years. He expects future projects to cost local taxpayers more; a governor's commission found about 500 of Maine's 600 schools will need replacement or major work within 20 years, at a conservatively estimated $11 billion.

District and state education officials plan to discuss the project Feb. 4 at 5:30 p.m. in Frenchville, at the St. John Valley Technology Center.

This story was first reported by Bangor Daily News.