WINDHAM – The Regional School Unit 14 board voted 7-2 Wednesday night not to redistrict its schools, which brought excitement and relief to a packed room of parents from North Windham who did not want their kids to have to attend elementary school in Raymond.

School officials are now left with the question of what to do about overcrowding at Windham Primary School, which is over capacity by about 130 students and is expected to grow by 20 more students next fall.

Several board members seemed torn about the decision up until the time of the vote.

They weighed the situation at Windham Primary and how the change would affect the families of the 70-some Windham students in kindergarten through third grade, who would have to switch go to Raymond Elementary School next year.

The plan called for eventually having all students who live north of Whites Bridge Road in Windham attend Raymond Elementary through fifth grade, then choose where they go to middle school.

Chairman Michael Duffy said he had been convinced that redistricting next year was the right decision but, hearing from fellow board members during the meeting Wednesday, he felt the overcrowding problem was “not at the crisis level yet.”

He voted against the proposal, along with Diana Froisland, Jeraldine Keane, Elizabeth Fillinger, Kate Brix, Dawn Perkins and Toby Pennels.

Board members Catriona Sangster, who led the panel that devised the plan, and Marge Govoni voted in favor of it.

“I don’t want to make my decision in a crisis situation,” Govoni said before the vote. “I want to avert a crisis.”

Brix, who had once been in favor of redistricting, said she changed her mind after taking a tour of Windham Primary and didn’t see students in closets, as she had heard they were, or “hanging out the windows.”

Although there is a projected population boom at Windham Primary next year, she said, the numbers fall back down soon after. However, if the projections for next fall are borne out, it could affect class sizes, she said, which affects learning.

“I’m worried,” said Brix.

Keane, who lives in Raymond, said she voted against the proposal because she feared how students in her town would be affected by going to school with Windham children whose parents who have criticized Raymond schools in their arguments against redistricting.

“I feel bullied into this decision,” she said.

About 100 people attended each of two public hearings on the issue earlier this month.

Nicole Heanssler, whose has three children at Windham Primary, said her concern was mostly about their education. She didn’t want to tell her kids they would have to leave their school for another. “I am happy I don’t have to have that conversation,” she said.

 

Staff Writer Leslie Bridgers can be contacted at: 791-6364 or at

lbridgers@pressherald.com