Press Release: Group gathers to urge a YES vote on the Cape Elizabeth School Bond

Please note: This article reflects opinions regarding the November 2022 school referendum to construct a new, combined elementary and middle school. It does not represent the current 2024 Cape Elizabeth school proposal.

Cape Elizabeth Parents, Senior Citizens, Community Leaders, and Students urge a YES vote on the School Bond 

Historic Vote on November 8th would rebuild old, outdated, unsafe, and inaccessible elementary and middle schools.

 For Immediate Release - Tuesday, October 11, 2022

 CAPE ELIZABETH, Maine -- Today, Cape Elizabeth parents, senior citizens, community leaders, and students came together to urge voters to vote yes on the school bond to rebuild the town’s elementary and middle schools. Standing next to Town Hall on the first day of in-person voting, supporters spoke in strong support of replacing the old and outdated schools by voting for the school bond on November 8th.

 Speakers described the urgent need to rebuild the schools, one built in 1933 and the other in 1948, in order to create new 21st-century schools that are more accessible to all students, will enhance students' learning, will better support award-winning programs like band and theater, and will be environmentally responsible, powered with the latest renewable energy technology.

 Elizabeth Biermann, one of the parent leaders of Advancing Cape Elizabeth Schools (ACES) kicked off the event by welcoming the crowd and urging a yes vote in support of building the new schools. “Today is the perfect day to gather because it was the first day of early voting, which means we all finally get the chance to vote yes for our schools, for our students, and for our future.”

 A retired couple, Anne and Paul Laliberte, residents of Cape Elizabeth for almost 50 years said, “We have had the benefit of raising our children in this wonderful community with excellent schools. We believe the proposed school construction project is the best way to meet the educational programming, safety, and security needs of our children now and well into the future. Without it, we feel that Cape Elizabeth will not be able to meet its educational goals, particularly with respect to our students’ safety. We need an extra level of safety for our kids. And we need to make the changes as soon as possible.”

 Brian Gurr, a young parent who relocated to Maine during Covid said he and his wife are waiting to see if the school bond passes before they decide whether or not to buy a house in Cape Elizabeth. “If the bond is not approved, we're not yet sure if we want to commit our four-year-old son to this school system. While we know his classmates and teachers will be great, it may not be as good as another school system that's not faced with the challenges and distractions of outdated schools.” He added, ''I share that anecdote because it's a cautionary tale of what could happen to property values. School quality is among the highest - if not the highest - criterion for young families such as ours. If it drops, families may look elsewhere. That reduces demand for homes which negatively impacts property values.” 

Phil Coupe, co-founder and managing partner of Revision Energy and a Cape Elizabeth resident with children in the school system said, "What we cannot afford as a community is to continue combusting 77,000 gallons of oil a year to heat our aging school infrastructure. There are many reasons to vote yes on the school bond, including at least fifty years of energy savings, carbon reduction, and reduced and reliable operating costs. I'm 100% convinced that the long-term benefits of this investment to rebuild our schools will far outweigh the short-term costs.”

 Jamie Garvin, a former Cape Elizabeth town councilor and chair said, “I think it is important to highlight that for the level of investment we’d be committing with a renovation project, we wouldn’t be getting the same amount of future use, 50 years for a rebuild versus only 20 years for a renovation. This really struck me when I was a town councilor and part of these discussions in the early planning meetings.”

 “I was chair of the 1993 school building committee when we renovated and added onto Pond Cove. There were structural problems back then and it’s been almost 30 years since we made those modest improvements. It is time to look to the future and provide facilities that will meet the needs of our children for the next 50 years. Please join me in voting yes for our schools,” added Paul Laliberte.