A citizens’ petition requiring a referendum vote on the Wiscasset School Board’s decision to close the Wiscasset Primary School was submitted to the town office Oct. 15.
According to Wiscasset Town Clerk Christine Wolfe, the petition was received with 177 valid signatures, surpassing the 167 signatures required.
The warrant is going before the selectmen at their Tuesday, Oct. 21 meeting.
“I anticipate it will be signed calling for an election on Tuesday, Dec. 9,” Wolfe said in an e-mail Oct. 17.
The ballot question will ask “Shall the school committee of the town of Wiscasset be authorized to close Wiscasset Primary School? The additional cost of keeping the school open has been estimated by the school committee to be $785,254.”
The petition needed to be presented within 30 days of the board’s vote, which made Oct. 15 the latest the petition could be filed, and the deadline was met. Maine laws around school closure requires at least 45 the days from when the petition is filed to schedule the town-wide vote.
Andrea Main, a substitute teacher in the Wiscasset school system and the mother of a primary school student and middle school student, said she circulated the petition because “we deserve the right to have a say in something that directly concerns our children.”
Main also said she believes the town must close a school, but at this point is uncertain which school it should be.
If the referendum is approved, the Wiscasset School Board will be authorized to move forward closing the primary school.
If the referendum is rejected, the school board would likely vote to close the Wiscasset Middle School, according to comments made by Chairman Steve Smith at the board’s Sept. 24 meeting.
