WISCASSET

Rushing to meet a Sept. 16 deadline, the Wiscasset School Committee weighed the middle and primary schools as candidates for closure at their Thursday night meeting in an effort to get a referendum question on the Nov. 5 election ballot.

Consolidating the Wiscasset Middle School or Wiscasset Primary School and closing either one of the buildings will pose a significant cost savings to the town, said Wiscasset School Committee chairman Steve Smith — what has to be determined is which one to close.

The committee stepped back from an initial recommendation of closing the middle school after hearing public input which overwhelmingly supported keeping Wiscasset Middle School open.

“I was leaning toward the middle school because I thought it would be more expensive” to move the primary students there, said Smith. “I have since talked to a dozen people and they all want the middle school to stay open — that’s the only feedback I’ve gotten.”

Wiscasset Middle School could serve as a K-8 school. However, it would cost more to update the building to house elementary students, said Smith.

Little or no renovations would be required to prepare Wiscasset Primary School for grades 5 and 6, assuming grades 7 and 8 move to the underused Wiscasset High School, he said, but the operational costs of the primary school far exceed those of the middle school.

“What’s in the budget for operating costs for the two buildings,” said Smith, “the primary school costs $31,550 more to heat than the middle school” per year.

The oil budget for heating the primary school is $74,750 and the oil budget for the middle school is $45,500, said Smith, noting that the lower operational cost of the middle school could offset the cost of modifications needed to the building.

A report commissioned in 2008 that analyzed the school facilities identified engineering issues at the middle school, said Wiscasset School Committee member Eugene Stover.

“The engineers, when they speak of a building and they tell you what’s wrong with it, that’s what’s wrong with it and we’ve got to take these things into consideration,” said Stover. “Even though that was several years ago, it’s still a valid and respected report.”

“One thing about the middle school that’s so much better than the primary school is,” said resident Marie Fairfield, “it has a big gymnasium, a full-size stage … a full-size cafeteria.”

Several residents questioned what would be done about parking as there is insufficient parking at both school sites. Smith noted that there is a possibility the tennis court at the middle school could be converted to a parking lot.

Residents also questioned what would be done if there were a growth in student population as the middle school has no room for expansion.

“Ten-year projections have 70 less kids unless there is some sort of incredible turnaround,” said Smith, “and I don’t think we can plan on that.”

In the next five years, Smith said it is likely Wiscasset would have to work with neighboring towns to build a regional high school. The high school is currently used at 46 percent capacity, with a total of 201 students, of which 136 are from Wiscasset and 65 are tuitioned in.

The birth rate in Wiscasset had fallen off dramatically in the past several years, from 46 in 2009 to 12 as of August for this year.

“I think we need to realistically plan that we’re not going to have a stand-alone district five years from now,” said Smith. “Not because we don’t want to … but because we can’t educate that few kids effectively.

“I want to look at teaming with towns in the same situation,” he added, noting that estimates in Boothbay predict they will have 120 fewer high school students in 10 years.

“Our first step is to close a school … and try to keep the town on board with a plan that’s not going to have us be forced to tuition our kids out,” said Smith. “When you start tuitioning out, as parents, you have no say.”

Stover said he was concerned about what facility would be able to offer a better program for students, but also about next year’s tax bill.

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. The appropriation decreased a potential 27 percent tax hike to a 10 percent increase.

“Sentimentality right now is running quite high in this community,” said Stover. “Most of the response I’m getting is from people who either work in the middle school or who have graduated from the middle school — they’re not thinking about the tax bill they’re going to get next year.”

The committee has to make a decision prior to the Board of Selectmen’s Sept. 16 meeting for the selectmen to approve a referendum question for the Nov. 5 election.

It was unknown as of the Thursday meeting if a citizen petition was needed for a closure referendum to be a binding vote rather than an advisory vote. Smith said it was possible that a petition with signatures equal to at least as many as 10 percent of the number of people who voted at the last gubernatorial election be turned in 30 days prior to the election to make it binding, and not reversible by future school committees.

“If there is no petition, the school closes by the board’s decision,” said Smith, and added that an advisory vote could be reversed by a future school committee.

The Wiscasset School Committee called a special meeting at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 15 at the Wiscasset High School library, to hear from the public and aim to vote on a closure.

rgargiulo@timesrecord.com

THE WISCASSET SCHOOL Committee called a special meeting at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 15 at Wiscasset High School library, to hear from the public and aim to vote on a closure.