When Caribou, Presque Isle’s lone neighbor to the north in the Class A neighborhood, opted to drop down to Class B in some sports last fall, many wondered if the Wildcats would follow suit.

Wonder no longer. Presque Isle officials opted early last year to go the same route, but not for all the same sports.

Presque Isle is fielding “B” teams in eight sports while maintaining Class A for boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, baseball and softball, according to school officials.

“The main reason for staying in `A’ for those four sports was to maintain our schedules,” said athletic director Dave Heald. “Also, we’ve traditionally been, and continue to be, very competitive and successful in those sports and the good teams still want to play us.

“I guess I really can’t say there are any negatives in this movement right now.”

Heald said the move was prompted by declining school enrollment. Presque Isle’s current enrollment is 675 – 25 below the minimum cutoff for Class A schools.

“It’s been kind of a continuing trend the last few years, but it’s my understanding that it may have bottomed out right now,” Heald explained while also noting that Presque Isle’s enrollment actually increased by eight this year.

Caribou’s enrollment has shrunk from 1,300 in the 1970s and early 1980s to 625 this year. The Vikings are Class B in all sports except basketball, soccer, tennis and cheerleading.

“I think eventually we’ll be Class B in everything and that may be the way to go,” said Caribou athletic director Dwight Hunter. “I think you play where your enrollment takes you and if you’re not very successful, then maybe you need to make some changes.”

Heald and Hunter attribute their schools’ declining enrollments the last few years to the closure of Loring Air Force Base in Limestone and the evolving American family unit.

“People aren’t having as large a family as they used to,” Hunter said.

“When the base moved out of here, it affected a lot of people, not just in Limestone,” Heald said. “But we feel we’re at a point where it’s stabilized. It’s been declining but the numbers are up five to 10 from last year.”

One result of both schools’ move to the “B” ranks is that for the first time, each will be members of the Penobscot Valley Conference in the fall of the 2000-2001 school year.

“We’ve been involved with PVC teams for awhile now, but we couldn’t compete in PVC postseason meets or games. Now we can,” Heald said.