CALAIS — Rural schools face tough budget decisions for the coming academic year, but Calais Middle/High School students will play home games on a new gym floor for the first time in nearly 50 years after an ambitious improvement plan launched earlier this month with a $150,000 donation from Downeast Credit Union.
The donation lays the groundwork for capital projects in the 2026 Blue Devil Futures Facilities Improvement Plan, which calls for $500,000 in fundraising to improve student sports safety, strengthen Blue Devil community pride and expand opportunities for new electives.
The push comes as rising costs and declining student populations in many small towns force difficult decisions around school budgets.
The town of Topsfield, population 175, recently voted to close its only school, citing property tax concerns and low enrollment.
“If there was a model (or the fundraising initiative), I think we would have done it a long time ago,” Julie Redding told Monitor Local.
Redding, a former Blue Devil, is secretary of Blue Devil Boosters, a community partnership between parents, alumni and others, and administrator of the recently established Blue Devils Futures Fund, an initiative at the heart of the school’s improvement plan.
“This fund marks the official beginning of a communitywide fundraising effort aimed at improving key student spaces and ensuring long-term sustainability for generations to come with an initial seed donation of $10,000,” Redding said in an April press release announcing the fund and the Boosters’ initial contribution.
The fund is the financial mechanism underpinning CMHS’s improvement plan. The proposal includes a full gym remodel: replacing the floor with a high‑performance surface, adding a modern electronic scoreboard, upgrading existing audio equipment and making aesthetic improvements.
The plan also outlines other priorities, including a redesign of the school lobby, an upgrade of the cafetorium and maintenance and renovation of a small physical fitness center above the gym.
The donation for the new floor, which is expected to feature the Downeast Credit Union logo at center court, could not come at a better time. Just days earlier, at the April 29 Calais School Committee meeting, member John Hill asked, “Have we addressed the gym floor yet?”
Hill said he worries that grooves, gaps and dents could injure athletes and erode school pride.
Redding, who serves on CMHS’s fundraising committee, said the initiative is about showing children in Downeast Maine that they are valued.
She said many young people grow up hearing — directly or indirectly — that what is worth having exists somewhere else.
They think “the good things are elsewhere, the nice things are elsewhere,” Redding said. “That is not true.”
Redding said she wants to show young people there are nice things here, too.
Joseph Moses, president and CEO of Downeast Credit Union, agreed. He said businesses with steady cash flow, such as credit unions and banks, can replicate this model.
“It’s important to understand: It’s because Downeast Credit Union is getting our logo embossed into the floor. It becomes a marketing expense, just for all transparency,” Moses said. “We put up the $150,000 as capital, but it doesn’t hit our income statement.”
He said that is because the credit union tracks the expenditure $10,000 at a time, over 15 years, as a marketing expense.
“If we didn’t have our logo on it, we would have to immediately expense it,” Moses said. “So what would that number be? I don’t know, but it would be a different number. I don’t want to talk about that number.”
He added that this model makes it easier for businesses to donate to community improvements.
Traditionally, Downeast Credit Union has supported schools through Downeast Dunkers, its cornerstone program for funding local athletics. Proceeds from the program help pay for sports activities at participating schools.
In addition to CMHS, Machias High School, Mount View High School, Richmond Middle School and High School, Washington Academy and Woodland High School also received funds from the Downeast Dunkers program, according to Downeast Credit Union. The credit union said it allocated $30,000 for donations last school year.
The CMHS improvement plan includes organizing a private fundraising committee that brings together school officials, Downeast Credit Union leadership and community stakeholders.
Moses said he hopes the momentum from his donation is only the beginning. He said he is eager to talk with other banks and local businesses that might join the partnership.
For CMHS students, these efforts are expected to support programs that have been overlooked in the county’s current school budget environment. Much of the school’s infrastructure dates back 50 years, according to an April press release Redding posted on Facebook announcing the fund. She said the fund seeks to change that.
