WISCASSET, Maine — Wiscasset voters will decide Tuesday whether they will close Wiscasset Primary School, a move recommended by the Wiscasset School Board fewer than six months after the town withdrew from Regional School Unit 12.
Should the voters reject the referendum, the town could face another year of supporting three schools, according to school board chairman Steve Smith.
Following a citizen petition to require the question be put before the voters in a town-wide vote, the school board voted to close the primary school at its meeting Sept. 15.
If voters on Tuesday elect to close the primary school, the school board will craft a 2014-15 budget for just two schools. If the voters reject the primary school closure, the school board will meet Dec. 11 to consider voting to close the middle school instead.
However, because of the expectation of another citizen petition and other requirements during the process, the school board would not have enough time to prepare to close the middle school or develop a budget for voter approval in June.
According to the school board and many residents, the town doesn’t need to operate three schools, nor can it afford to keep three schools open with a declining student population. The enrollment of Wiscasset students is about 550 students, and each of the three schools is operating at about 50 percent capacity.
With Wiscasset’s withdrawal from RSU 12 and the town supporting three schools, taxpayers would have seen an increase of about 27 percent in property taxes this year if the town had not voted to withdraw $1.25 million from the municipal reserve account and the selectmen had not decided to take $300,000 from the town’s fund balance to lower the property tax rate.
The 2013-14 Wiscasset school budget of $9.4 million is nearly double the previous year’s obligation to RSU 12 of $5.1 million. Smith said he is hopeful the board will develop a 2014-15 budget to reduce the burden on property taxpayers by closing a school.
According to information provided by the school board, the savings from closing the primary school is estimated to be nearly $800,000. With seventh- and eighth-graders moving to the high school, there would be room at the middle school for conversion to a K-6 school. There also would be room at the primary school for a K-6 school, according to the school board.
The decision to move seventh- and eighth-graders to the high school for the 2015-16 school year already has been made, regardless of how the referendum vote turns out.
Moving the younger students to the middle school would require several one-time expenses: $41,000 in renovations to the school, $16,000 for playground needs, $5,000 for fire alarm upgrades, $1,500 to improve the parking lot, $5,000 for technology upgrades and $1,000 to for new stairway railings.
The question on the referendum ballot will read as follows: “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 polls will open at 8 a.m at the Wiscasset Community Center for voting and remain open until 8 p.m.