I support withdrawal of Freeport from RSU 5.

My daughter graduated from a predominately pre-RSU 5 Freeport High School in 2011. I feel very fortunate for the experiences our family had from kindergarten through her senior year at FHS. Volunteering and substituting in each school building gave me a personal pulse on what was happening in our small pond. As a parent, I knew the teachers and administrative staff very well. My daughter “loved” her teachers. Her scholastic experiences were solid and enabled her to successfully compete on a national level for two U.S. Service Academies, a distinction not only for her, but also her hometown. The teachers and staff created an environment for her, and many of her 2011 classmates, to thrive.

For future classes to thrive, I strongly believe it will be better for everyone, emphasis on everyone, if we have local control again. Pownal and Durham will be able to pay per student and not for the “system.” The Nov. 5 vote continues to reinforce what we already know: Our RSU communities are prioritizing differently and they have a right to make those choices. Renovations and other improvements are unpopular with our neighboring towns and it is not fair for Freeport to muscle them through against our neighbors’ will.

Freeport should assert our right to disentangle ourselves from a misguided “thought experiment” and get back what all three towns had before consolidation.

Anne Fuehrer

Freeport