AUBURN – Property taxpayers, fearful of what a new high school would do to their annual bills, got some good news Wednesday night.

After years of planning to build a high school, the Auburn School Department will put any further work on hold until state construction funding for a new Edward Little is approved.

School Committee Chairman Tom Kendall, who also headed up the New High School Steering Committee meeting, told School Committee members Wednesday night the New High School Committee would no longer be active; the committee’s meeting Thursday night would be called off.

“Given the information from (Maine Education Department Deputy Commissioner) Jim Rier and the projected state response, it doesn’t make any sense for that committee to stay active,” Kendall said. “The idea is to stand down and await state funding.”

He praised the work of the committee, saying it helped lay “an excellent foundation for moving forward” when state money is available.

A referendum asking Auburn property taxpayers to pay for a new high school without state funding was headed toward the ballot.

Agreeing with a similar vote from the New High School Steering Committee, on April 3 the School Committee voted 5-1 to recommend to the City Council that a new Edward Little High School be built on the existing site. If passed, that would have meant local taxpayers would be paying for a new high school that could cost between $50 million and $62 million. For the owner of a $150,000 home, that would have meant an annual tax increase of $336.

The City Council balked on that suggestion and of holding a referendum in February. At that time, Edward Little High School was No. 16 on the state construction list; it was assumed state money would not be available.

But in May Deputy Education Commissioner Rier said the state was proceeding with the list of construction projects, and that historically the first 20 on the list do eventually get funding.

Committee member Tracey Levesque asked Wednesday night: “Why didn’t we meet with Jim Rier way before we started this whole steering committee” and architecture reports and land searches?

Kendall said part of the rush to get a school built without state money “was pressure felt by certain members concerning the accreditation” of the high school.

Edward Little’s accreditation has been put on probation because of the physical condition of the building. The 1961 school is not energy efficient, has poor air quality due to insufficient ventilation, it’s cafeteria is in what was a basement, it lacks classrooms and athletic fields. The school can’t stay on probation forever, Kendall has said, but Rier may be able to work with accreditation officials and help them understand Auburn is doing what it can.

On Wednesday night, School Committee member Larry Pelletier, also a New High School Steering Committee member, said, “In our minds I don’t think there was any chance we’d get state funding at all.”

Superintendent Katy Grondin and Business Manager Jude Cyr agreed. As recent as January the top six schools on the construction list were still being told to wait “and not spend any money,” Cyr said. “They weren’t sure if the top six would get state funding,” Grondin said.

In the spring, things changed, Grondin said. Her impression is that the Department of Education “got a lot of pressure from the Portland area” legislators. That forced the Maine Department of Education, as funding for the first six schools was being released, to say “everybody be patient; we will get there,” Grondin said.

Rier met with Auburn school officials on June 18, and counseled them to trust that the state would work its way down the list of school construction projects far enough to help Auburn replace the school.