On April 21, Lisbon voters rejected a bond issue that would have developed a plan for Lisbon High School. The current high school is on the verge of losing its accreditation and, with that, the hopes that my son will be on equal footing during the college admissions process. College admissions officials do pay attention to whether or not a high school is accredited.
The general assumption is that everybody has good schools in Maine, but without accreditation, it is much harder to attract new families to the community. My family’s primary concern moving to Lisbon was the educational opportunities it could provide. Lisbon Community School was in its second year and meetings with the staff and faculty have been phenomenal. We are very pleased with LCS.
But let’s face it, if my son were about to enter high school, we would have chosen another community in which to build our home.
Simply put, without accreditation, property values would drop; fewer families would locate to Lisbon; and good teachers would take a pass working at Lisbon High School.
The town’s economic future and stability is based on the residents’ commitment to the young people and the school. Tuesday’s vote demonstrated neither.
Susan McPhee, Lisbon
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