State funds for school renovations and construction are so scarce that Windham a

State funds for school renovations and construction are so scarce that Windham and Augusta have hired lobbyists to help secure funding for their schools. Windham hired former Secretary of State William Diamond to plead its case in Augusta. Forty-year old Windham High School, which was built for a capacity of 500 students, now has an enrollment of 866 students. With 38 portable classrooms located outside the building, which has only 25 classrooms, the school is known as the trailor park. In Augusta, Cony House School features exterior walls described by lobbyist Bruce Gerrity of the high-powered law firm of Preti, Flaherty, Beliveau and Pachios as being so flimsy that one can almost put one\u27s fingers through them. The current ceiling on the state\u27s annual payment for school projects is $74 million, enough to fund 10 projects. If lobbyists are successful in raising the ceiling to $84 million, an additional 12 projects could be undertaken, including Windham that would come in at the bottom of the expanded list. Cony, at 28th on the expanded list, would have to continue its wait. With a list of the 10 top projects for which funding has been authorized , and the additional 12 projects that will be funded if the ceiling is raised to $84 million