With school costs increasing and state subsidies dropping, calls to close Wiscasset Middle School have been steadily growing louder.
At the Wiscasset Educational Research Panel’s meeting Feb. 6, the group suggested consolidating Wiscasset’s schools to save money and improve education quality.
If the middle school is closed, WERP recommended housing the kindergarten through sixth grades in Wiscasset Primary School. Seventh and eighth grade students would move to the high school facility, albeit with a wing of the school designated for them.
This configuration was based on parent concerns regarding the mingling of seventh and eighth grade students with the high school classes.
Citing a 2008 study of the school by Stephen Blatt Architects and Engineers, WERP said consolidating to two schools would reduce operating expenses by over $1,000,000 immediately. The remaining two schools would be “more efficiently utilized by operating at near student capacity” and capital improvements needed in the middle school would no longer be necessary, yielding more than $3,000,000 in savings.
“We can’t support all the space we have,” WERP Chairman Doug Smith said, calling Wiscasset school buildings underutilized. “We’re looking at this option because it’s a significant amount of savings to the town.”
According to Smith, the middle school also suffers from mold problems and fails to meet current code and safety standards for schools. He described the gym as a fire hazard.
WMS Principal Linda Bleile disagreed with these assertions in an interview with The Lincoln County News after the meeting.
“The Dept. of Education would not let us operate if we were unsafe,” Bleile said, pointing out that school facilities must be certified safe before every school year. Bleile likened the school’s construction needs to that of a home.
“While there are things in our home we’d like to add or fix, it doesn’t make them unsafe to live in,” Bleile said.
Bleile also disputed an assertion Smith made at WERP’s meeting Feb. 6, where he claimed Bleile had told him that the school’s renovations were unneeded and used just because they were there.
Additional classrooms were added to WMS in 2005. During the construction, fifth grade students attended classes at Wiscasset Primary School before eventually moving back after renovations were completed.
According to Bleile, it is better for middle school-aged students to have their own facilities.
“Having worked with middle school students all my life, I firmly believe that they need their own space during these years,” she said.
WERP also estimates consolidation would simultaneously improve the education quality of Wiscasset schools by allowing for an improved and expanded curriculum. Advanced students in the middle school would be able to take advantage of the high school’s resources.
A proposal to shut down the middle school was sent to Wiscasset to voters in 2008, shortly before the town decided to join RSU 12, but was rejected. Closing WMS had the strong support of then Wiscasset Superintendent Jay McIntire, who recommended the action along with a $14 million bond package to update the primary and high school.
It is unclear whether public opinion has changed in regards to closing the school.
According to WERP board member Susan Nichols, however, many Wiscasset residents “feel it’s a smart thing to do.”
“I think a lot of people in the town would like this option,” she said at WERP’s meeting Feb. 6.
Smith agreed. “I haven’t heard much negativity about consolidating into two schools,” he said.
Wiscasset resident Chet Grover, a parent of three current and former Wiscasset school system students, said he was on the fence.
“I’ll have to wait and see what the real numbers are,” Grover said, adding that he was waiting for an official Board of Selectman-appointed panel to investigate the matter. “I’m wide open to suggestion to close schools if it’s a necessity for our community…if we can’t afford to keep three schools then I’ll jump on the bandwagon.”
Ginger Wehrle, a parent and head of the Schools Advisory Group for Educational Success (SAGES), expressed skepticism about the accuracy of WERP’s numbers.
“It’s impossible to give an informed opinion about a consolidation of school buildings as the centerpiece of withdrawal without cost estimate analyses and well thought out plans for serving the best interests of all K-12th grade students attending Wiscasset schools,” Wehrle wrote in an email.
WERP will present its findings to the Wiscasset Board of Selectmen at Feb. 21 at 7 p.m.
