Today the residents of the towns in SAD 21 will vote on allowing the town of Peru to join the school district.
After reading the articles we will be voting on, I can understand why the SAD 21 Board of Directors could never muster a positive vote in favor of the proposed merger agreement and decided to pass it on to let the voters have their say.
I believe there are two fundamental flaws with the proposal. The first concerns the site and the makeup of the new school. Where will it be located? Who will attend? Will elementary students living in Dixfield, living no more then a mile from the elementary school, be bused to Canton? Or will only K-8 students in Canton and Peru attend?
The answers are not forthcoming, but we are told we must vote now before we lose funding.
Secondly, the agreement asks for a new cost-sharing proposal. The new cost share will have Dixfield paying more and Peru paying less. The current cost-share formula has worked well for us all these years. Why are we changing it? Why does Peru get subsidized to join the district?
We should vote this merger down. However, we should encourage our school boards to get together and find a suitable site, tell us who will be going to the new school and to come up with a cost-share formula that is fair.
Let’s vote again to merge – after we know the facts.
Eugene Skibitsky, Dixfield
Send questions/comments to the editors.
