WISCASSET

With the first school year as a stand-alone district just around the corner, the Wiscasset School Committee has another weighty task at hand — the possible closure of one of the district’s three schools.

Committee chairman Steve Smith said in a Tuesday phone interview with The Times Record that the committee hopes to hear public input at its Thursday meeting on closing either the Wiscasset primary or middle school.

The committee aims to vote on a closure in time for a town-wide vote to be included on the Nov. 5 election ballot, he said.

“This is a community decision; it’s important that we hear from as many members of the public as possible,” said Smith. “We want to hit that Nov. 5 deadline because the voter turnout is higher then than at a special election.”

According to Wiscasset Town Clerk Christine Wolfe, the Board of Selectmen has to receive a request by their Sept. 16 meeting if the committee intends to add an item to the November ballot.

The selectboard requires 45 days notice prior to an election, said Wolfe, and 30 days notice is necessary to add an item to the ballot in order to meet the deadline for absentee ballots. One public hearing must take place 10 days prior to a school closure vote on Nov. 5, she said.

Superintendent Lyford Beverage issued a memo to the board Aug. 17 outlining reasons for closing a school, and general information regarding renovations and additions that would have to be made to the primary or middle school in order to accommodate kindergarten to sixth grade students.

“As was evident in the development of the initial budget for the Wiscasset School Department for the 2014-15 school year,” the memo stated, “funding and taxation will be a huge issue.”

At the June Town Meeting, residents approved the appropriation of $1.25 million, 123-14, from the municipal reserve account to offset the tax increase subsequent to the town’s withdrawal from Regional School Unit 12. Residents questioned at the time why the school board had not closed a school during the withdrawal process for a budget reduction by the 2014-15 school year.

“The Wiscasset School Department became operational July 1,” said Beverage in a Monday phone interview with The Times Record. “Prior to that they had no authority to close a school, and closing a school is an elongated process.

“I don’t think there is anyway (the board) could have done it differently,” he said. “They are attempting to fast track this and get it to the public as quickly as they could.”

The school committee’s first effort to reduce costs will center on formulating a plan to house all K-8 students in two buildings, said Beverage, though controversy has surrounded the issue of which school should be selected for closure.

Enrollment at Wiscasset Primary School, which serves grades K-4, has dropped from a high of 271 in 1995 to a projected enrollment of 172 this school year, the memo stated, approximately 70 percent the enrollment rate from 20 years ago.

Enrollment at Wiscasset Middle School, which serves grades 5-8, has dropped from a high of 220 in the late ’90s, said Beverage, to approximately

172 this school year. The building is currently being used at 73 percent capacity due to the reduced student population, he said.

Enrollment at Wiscasset High School, which is the school of guaranteed acceptance for RSU 12 high school students, has dropped from a high of 448 students in 1997 to a projected enrollment of 210 students this year. The high school is being used at 46 percent capacity, said Beverage, and could accommodate an additional 200 students.

In either closure scenario, it is expected that grades 7 and 8 will be incorporated into the high school, requiring that either grades 5 and 6 move to the primary school, or grades K-7 be housed at the middle school.

“We are leaning toward closing the middle school,” said Smith, noting that a study done in 2008 had recommended the middle school for closure.

“The modifications to move the younger students to the middle school would be much more expensive,” said Smith. “The most expensive thing would be building a wing for the preschool and kindergarten and building kindergarten bathrooms.”

According Beverage’s memo, playground work, classroom renovations, handicap accessibility, stairway safety and parking lot improvements were among upgrades to the middle school that may be required to house a younger student population.

“Minimal internal changes will be necessary to accommodate the addition of grades 5 and 6” at the primary school, the memo stated, “and there is currently an abundance of furniture and equipment at the site that can be returned to active service.”

Some residents have already expressed concern about closing the middle school, said Smith, particularly concerning the effect it could have on sports performance and the suitability of the primary school for older students.

Either closure will result in a reduction of personnel, said Beverage, though Smith noted that this will likely involve administration and support staff positions, not teaching positions.

“We’re not closing grades — our teachers have been budgeted to serve the students that we have,” said Smith. “I don’t think there would be teacher layoffs — though we may lose some ed tech positions, but I’m not sure about that either.”

The committee has yet to discuss how a vacant school building would be disposed of, said Smith, but that is a matter they will take up with town officials if a closure is approved by voters.

The Wiscasset School Committee will be hearing public comment on the issue of closing a school at 6 p.m., Thursday, in the Wiscasset High School library, located at 272 Gardiner Road, Wiscasset. For more information, contact superintendent Lyford Beverage at 882-4104 or [email protected]. Smith can be reached at [email protected] .

rgargiulo@timesrecord.com