POLAND — A $5.1 million bond proposal to update the heating and ventilation systems in Regional School Unit 16’s three elementary schools failed by a 7-vote margin Tuesday, 219 to 212.

The vote tally in the three towns that make up the district was:

Mechanic Falls: yes 42; no 39

Minot: yes 74; no 49

Poland: yes 96; no 131

A plan to modernize the schools’ heating and ventilation systems was developed after a cast iron plate in the boiler at Minot Consolidated School cracked in late September 2022.

It was feared that a similar calamity could occur to the aging systems in Elm Street School in Mechanic Falls and Poland Community School.

Energy Management Consultants in Portland, which provided a temporary solution for Minot’s school to get through the winter, was hired to produce a plan to implement significant improvements to the HVAC systems for all three schools.

RSU 16 administrators believed the best means to finance the work was a 20-year bond, with a referendum vote on the bond to be held sooner than the school budget referendum in June in order to make upgrades to the Minot school before next winter.

The School Board approved the bond request on March 2 for a May 2 vote.

Minot, being the priority, would be upgraded this summer while the other schools would undergo changes next summer.

Discussions on the upgrades prompted the RSU 16 School Board to form a task force made up of staff and community residents. The task force will look at various facets of education in the district including: building and resource management, possible school consolidations, transportation issues, compensation and benefits, scheduling, and grade level configuration.

Assistant Superintendent Amy Hediger had stated earlier that the Minot Consolidated School principal has been asked to develop an emergency closure plan in case the bond proposal was rejected and there is a catastrophic failure making the school unusable.