Down a narrow staircase at Presque Isle High School, a cast iron steam boiler towers over visitors in the same place it has sat for the last six decades. Eleven presidents and tens of thousands of students ago, the boiler — and the high school — were new. They’re not anymore. But replacing the boiler system would cost millions, MSAD 1 Superintendent Ben Greenlaw said. That’s just part of the $40-$50 million in infrastructure investments he estimates the 200,000 square-foot building will need over the next 20 years. It might be that long before the funding needed to build a new high school is greenlit through the Maine Department of Education’s Major Capital School Construction Program. Greenlaw, aware of the budget crises that have gripped nearby districts in recent years, doesn’t believe MSAD 1 can wait that long. So earlier this year, he probed an option that has seemed more and more inevitable to education leaders across the state: consolidation. Now Presque Isle High School — Maine’s largest high school north of Old Town — is exploring combining with nearby Caribou and Fort Fairfield high schools to form a single regional high school and tech center.

Three tornado-damaged schools in the St. Louis Public Schools district will reopen in January. The Board of Education voted unanimously to reopen Washington Montessori Elementary, Yeatman-Liddell Middle and Beaumont High schools. Beaumont is home to some of the district’s career and technical programs. The schools are set to reopen by Jan. 5. The board also voted to approve the reopening of Hickey Elementary School, which is set to be ready in time for the 2026-27 school year. The May 16 tornado temporarily closed seven schools and damaged a dozen in total. School board President Karen Collins-Adams applauded the board and the district’s leadership for working together to reopen the buildings. “We were able to create change and show the community that we care so deeply about where our students are going to school,” Collins-Adams said. Chief of Operations Square Watson said his team will begin moving classroom furniture and supplies back to their original schools on Dec. 22 while students are on winter break.

Constructed nearly seven decades ago in 1958, O’Fallon Township High School’s Smiley Campus is experiencing growing pains that district leadership say demand action. The school community gathered Monday evening at the Smiley Campus, which houses grades 10-12. The newer Milburn Campus hosts only freshmen. Superintendent Beth Shackelford presented key concerns and potential solutions, all of which were informed by previous community input and conversations with architects. Community members gave feedback and floated some ideas of their own. “The way we educate students today in 2025 is not the way that we educated students in 1958,” Shackelford told the group. “Yet, to some extent, we are operating in a facility (that) was structured for that 1958 student.”  

Spring ISD’s Board of Trustees approved the closure of two schools Tuesday as part of the district’s broader “optimization plan” following a $13 million deficit. According to the district, Link Elementary and Dueitt Middle School, both located north of Houston, will be closed for the 2026-27 school year. The decision is part of the “District Optimization Plan,” which was developed in response to a $13 million budget deficit for the 2024-25 school year, declining enrollment and some school buildings operating at approximately 60% capacity, the district said via a release. The closures are expected to save just over $4 million in a single year. Spring ISD Board President Justine Durant said via a statement that the decision to close the two campuses was not taken lightly. “Closing Link and Dueitt is truly a heartbreaking decision,” Durant said. “With campuses operating at nearly 60% capacity and reductions in federal funding, we are facing realities that require hard choices. We will not be fiscally responsible if we do not address these challenges now, even when the decisions are difficult.”

Four separate elementary schools in Martinsville, all built before the 1960s, will soon be closed for good as the school district consolidates into a single, new elementary school building. The Metropolitan School District of Martinsville Board of Trustees will soon approve the consolidation plans which will shutter Centerton Elementary, Green Township Elementary, Poston Road Elementary and Smith Fine Arts Academy at the end of the 2026-2027 school year. A new elementary school, yet to be officially named, will then open at the start of the 2027 school year. “As a Board, it is our responsibility to plan not just for today’s students, but for generations to come,” said Heather Staggs, president of the MSD of Martinsville School Board. “This project reflects that long-term initiative and commitment to ensure the District remains a place where education thrives.”