To the Editor:
Wiscasset has a problem. The voters decided we were better off leaving the RSU than staying in. This left Wiscasset supporting a three school system with a dwindling student population. In order to support the school system, Wiscasset paid through the nose last year because there was not sufficient time to study our best options to control costs: quite understandable.
The school committee put a lot of effort into determining the cost savings of closing the primary school or the middle school. To close the primary school will save Wiscasset residents $785,524 per year. Closing the middle school will save Wiscasset residents $655,674 per year.
The middle school has the athletic fields, cafeteria and gymnasium to support a K to 8 population. The primary school has no athletic fields and a cafeteria that also serves as the gymnasium. The primary school is also the most inefficient building to heat in the school system.
The school committee voted to close the primary school because in the long run it saves the most money and the middle school has the facilities to support the student population. It now goes to the town for a referendum vote. If it fails we could have another referendum vote to see if the town wants to save less money and close the middle school.
If that referendum fails, Wiscasset will find itself supporting three schools for one more year as it will be too late to study our options further. It is simple folks. A school has to close because we the people decided to leave the RSU. Closing the primary school saves the most money and the middle school is the most efficient to maintain.
The petition to save the primary school may tug at your heartstrings because the younger students will be sad to see their school closed, but in the end we need to make the most cost effective decision.
