Wiscasset residents voted 274-135 Tuesday to create a committee charged with taking a fresh look at the future of the town’s high school, a process that could result in anything from shutting down grades 9-12 to expanding the high school.
When this idea was floated to the select board and Town Manager Dennis Simmons, both agreed they’ve been asked by residents for years what the financial impact of ceasing instruction for grades 9-12 would be, but this is the first time the town has sought to find an answer.
“I’ve heard over and over in the town that people want to know what it would cost to close the high school,” Select Board Chairperson Pamela Dunning said in March. “You don’t hear a lot of people asking how we can get more students in town. (The cost to close the high school) is what they want to know … that’s what’s on their minds.”
Simmons told The Times Record if Wiscasset Middle High School, which serves grades 7-12, were to cease instruction for grades 9-12, the town would pay for the students to attend another nearby school of their choice. The town doesn’t yet know what option would be cheaper for taxpayers.
Vice-chair Katharine Martin-Savage stressed the Wiscasset Middle High School, which serves grades 7-12, is not at risk of closing.
Regardless of the subcommittee’s future determination, the town would still shoulder the cost of educating students.
Although the Wiscasset School Department has its own budget separate from the town, both the municipal and school budgets contribute to the town’s property tax rate. Dunning said the school budget accounts for “more than half of the local tax bill” but said there’s “no way of knowing what percentage of that is the high school.”
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