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Wiscasset High School Principal Cheri Towle addresses the benefits of moving seventh and eighth grade students to Wiscasset High School facility, during a workshop held by Wiscasset School Board, Nov. 17. (Charlotte Boynton photo) |
By Charlotte Boynton
Whether or not Wiscasset voters agree to close the town’s primary school facility next month, Wiscasset seventh and eighth grade will move to the Wiscasset High School beginning
next fall.
Convening a workshop in the WHS cafeteria Monday, Nov. 17, the five members of the Wiscasset School Board agreed to move the two grades to the high school next
school year.
The board did not take a formal vote during their school board meeting, saying they wanted to research the law relating to the movement of students, specifically
whether the school superintendent or the school board has the authority to make the decision.
On Sept. 24, the board voted to close the Wiscasset Primary School as a cost saving measure. A citizens’ petition has brought the decision to a referendum vote Dec.
9.
If the referendum is approved, the Wiscasset School Board will be authorized to move forward closing the primary school. If the referendum is rejected, Wiscasset
School Board chairman Steve Smith has said the school board would likely vote to close the Wiscasset Middle School.
Wiscasset High School Principal Cheri Towle outlined the benefits in moving the seventh and eighth grade students to the high school campus. Towle told the board
there is plenty of room for the students, noting the current enrollments of 189 high school students, and 87 students in the seventh and eighth grades.
The new students would have their own section of the building, including a science lab and five classrooms, and separate from the high school area. Towle provided a
diagram showing where the classes would be located.
According to Towle, eighth grade students may take high school courses if they are ready. Students meeting graduation requirements earlier will have greater
opportunities for college courses, and internships, Towle said.
Towle also spoke about the ability to utilize school staff more efficiently. For example, the foreign language teacher would not have to travel, and could offer
foreign language to the seventh and eighth grades. Students would be able to access Algebra I in the eighth grade. Gifted and Talented students could access courses at the high
school level; and more teachers in subject areas could utilize grouping and regrouping to meet student needs.
Questioned about keeping high school and middle school students separated, Towle said scheduling would help the two students bodies from being in the hallways at the
same time They would also have different lunch periods.
Wiscasset School Superintendent Lyford Beverage said the student ages were not so far apart. “The ages between the seventh and eighth graders and the high school
students, outside the school they are apt to be at the mall together, at the pizza parlor, ice skating, and doing things together,” he said. “They also ride on the same school
buses together.”
“We do not get all the eighth grade students, they go to other high schools from the eighth grade. By bringing them to the high school for the seventh and eighth
grades, they become part of the school community and perhaps stay through their high school years, instead of attending another high school.” Towle said.
The question came up as to what happens if the voters decided not to close the primary school on Dec. 9, school board Chairman Steve Smith said, “It doesn’t matter
which school closes. The seventh and eighth grade students will still be moved to the high school.
Beverage told the group he didn’t expect the move would be minimal. After school closed in June the supplies, equipment, books, and other necessary materials could
be packed and moved to the high school.
“The earlier this is given to us, the more time we will have to work it,” Towle said.
Smith took a poll of the board members to move the seventh and eighth graders; they each agreed it was the right thing to do.
There was no opposition from the public members at the workshop. Wiscasset parent Andrea Main asked that it be a comfortable transition for the students. “This is a
big deal for us who are living it,” she said. “I have no opposition to it; it could be a wonderful opportunity for the kids.”
School board member Glen Craig suggested the board research who has the authority to made the decision for the move. “We want to do it right,” Craig said.
The school board may call a special meeting prior to the public hearing November 20 for a vote on moving the students if it is requirement of the statute.
