The citizens attending the weekly dinner at Wiscasset Community Center, Oct. 2, not only enjoyed a delicious dinner of “Guinness beef stew” and home-made Irish bread, they also were educated in the town’s potential cost to educate Wiscasset students.
Guest speaker Doug Smith, the chairman of the Wiscasset Educational Research Panel, told the group quality schools come in different forms, and on Nov. 5, Wiscasset has the opportunity to leave the Sheepscot Valley Regional School Unit, and form a school system that better fits the town’s student population and finances.
“Currently 72 percent of our property taxes is for schools. Seven other towns in the RSU control the costs of our schools,” Smith said. “Wiscasset should consider looking at what our town needs to educate its children and not continue to support buildings that are over 40 percent empty with a high school that can’t offer a comprehensive curriculum due to exceedingly low student counts.”
“Leaving RSU 12 and sizing our schools for today’s school enrollment is the only way we will ever restore our educational system and lower our taxes back down to an acceptable and comparable amount to other Maine towns,” Smith said.
He pointed out that Wiscasset Schools were designed for 1450 students, and student population peaked at 1405, during the Maine Yankee years. In 2012, a total of 588 students attended Wiscasset schools. Of that total 451 are from Wiscasset. Currently there are only 27 Wiscasset students in the Class of 2013.
“It’s like the children have grown-up, left home, now the parents are left with a home with five bedrooms not being used,” Smith said.
Smith said Wiscasset voters will have choices once they vote to leave the RSU, along with opportunities to control the cost of educating their students and lower the cost of education.
The choices include continuing to operate Wiscasset’s three school facilities primary, middle and high school, and a central office. WERP’s consultants estimate this option will cost $1.3 million more than the town is paying now. Smith said this option is not acceptable or practical.
A second option would close the middle school and split the students between the primary school and the high school facilities, potentially saving $1 million dollars per year. Smith explained this savings was estimated during a study contracted by the Wiscasset School Committee in 2008. This option would require a central staff and a superintendent.
A third option would close the high school, tuition grades 9 to 12, and consolidate K to 8 in the high school building. According to Smith, this is the best long-term option for the town as it could create a savings of over $2 million a year, with the possibility of the savings growing as the years go on.
The benefits include a cost savings in tuitioning high school students and creating a school choice situation for Wiscasset high school students allowing them to attend an appropriate school of their choice; an option that is enjoyed by students in other RSU 12 towns.
Most K to 8 school systems have a combination superintendent/principal, not requiring a large central staff because there would no high school to develop the curriculum, which is required by law, according to Smith.
The fourth option would involve any one of the other three scenarios and joining an Alternative Organization Structure, which would allow the town to share a central office, paying a portion of the administration cost based on student population.
Smith was vice chairman of the Wiscasset School Board, and chairman of the school building closure committee, and he served on the school board’s advisory committee on school consolidation.
According to WERP member Sharon Nichols, who introduced Smith to the senior citizens, he was the only board member who recognized consolidation with RSU 12 was not a good fit for Wiscasset, and recommended the town not merge with RSU 12.
During the comments following Smith’s presentation, some people expressed concern in understanding the process of withdrawing, and the lack of information on alternatives.
Smith explained that Nov. 5 is the final and most important vote; to either withdraw or remain in the RSU.
“A vote to withdraw will put the decisions back in the hands of the voters of Wiscasset,” he said. “It will be Wiscasset voters deciding what they want to spend on education, not seven other towns.”
Smith also urged people to get out to vote on Nov. 5, regardless of how they voted. Without the minimum number of voters, 833, a decision to withdraw from RSU 12 would be moot.
The vote to withdraw requires the participation of at least 50 percent of the voters who voted in the last gubernatorial election.
The town of Wiscasset voters approved a citizens’ petition to begin the withdrawal process from RSU 12, in June 2012. The selectmen appointed a withdrawal committee to negotiate a withdrawal agreement with RSU 12 board of directors. After a year of negotiations, the two groups agreed on the plan. After a public hearing on the plan, it was accepted by the Commissioner of Education, Steve Bowen, who scheduled the vote for Nov. 5.
