Voters in Littleton face school decision

LITTLETON — When residents vote at the annual town meeting next Monday, one of the decisions they will have to make is whether to close their local elementary school.

Late last fall, the SAD 29 board voted to close the 50-year-old, wood-framed school because of declining enrollment and the fact that it would cost between $600,000 and $1 million to bring the school up to standards for current building and life-safety codes.

Should voters follow the school board’s recommendation, the doors will close in June.

If they keep the school open, however, the town will have to pick up the costs that otherwise would have been saved by the district next year — $143,103 — and whatever would have been saved each year thereafter.

For local people, the referendum poses a classic case of being caught between a rock and a hard place.

“Their hearts want to keep it open, but their heads know they can’t afford it,” said Tess Buswell, who serves as principal at the elementary school in Littleton and one in neighboring Monticello.

Paying the extra amount to keep the school open, on top of the town’s regular assessment from the district, could add another $4.50 to the town’s property tax rate, which currently stands at $16 per $1,000 of valuation.

In addition, the cost of any repairs or renovations needed at the school — a new roof or windows, for example — would have to be borne solely by the town, with no financial support from the other three district towns or the state.

If the school is closed, kindergarten through fourth-grade pupils from Littleton would go to the Wellington School in Monticello.

Fifth- and sixth-grade pupils from both schools would go to the Southside School in Houlton.

Buswell said she has heard very little talk about the issue from parents and said that, based on what has taken place at past informational meetings on the subject, there seemed to be more interest in where the children would go to school next year than there was for keeping the school open.

Attendance at those meetings has been small. At the last session held March 1 at the Littleton Town Office, only about a half dozen residents showed up.

“It’s almost as if they’re resigned to the fact that it’s going to close,” said Buswell.

Town Manager Jennifer Gogan said she expects there will be a larger-than-usual voter turnout next week because of the school issue, but like Buswell, she was unable to gauge public sentiment.

“No one wants the school to close, of course, but no one wants their taxes to go up either,” she said Friday.