ALEXANDER – “Don’t close our school” was the message Monday night as more than 100 parents shared their fears and frustrations with the school committee over the possible closure of the elementary school. Chairman Ted Carter summed up the problem that the community of 440 faces:

“We are in a period of declining enrollment, steady or lower state reimbursement, and a large list of secondary tuition students. We are up to 31 [secondary students] next year, and that is going up in cost. We are facing increased special [education] costs, and we have to have a bus to run,” he said.

The pupil population in Alexander is 66, down from the more than 100 who once attended the local elementary school.

“Basically, what we are facing here is a demographic issue. There are not a lot of young people staying in this area and raising children, and that is what we are trying to come to grips with,” Carter said.

If the community wants to keep the school open, Carter warned, it is going to cost taxpayers more. “Do we want to pay more taxes next year? That is what it boils down to. If you say ‘yes,’ cool,” he said.

Carter said the school committee had cut the budget in every imaginable category and that there were no more places to cut. He said one possible solution might be to start a program for 4-year-olds that could eventually bolster the number of pupils in the school and eventually bring in some tuition money. Parents seemed to favor that idea.

Although they were talking about closing the elementary school, Carter said no one on the school committee wants to close it. Located on Route 9, the school also serves as the focal point for the community. When school is not in session, the building becomes a center for weddings and receptions.

During the meeting, Superintendent May Bouchard said the town would need more than $113,000 in local share to run the school next year. That compares with a local share of $85,000 during the current year.

If the community votes to close the school and send its young people to Calais, Bouchard said, the tuition cost plus the fixed costs including heat and maintenance of the Alexander school building would be around $590,0000. Carter said that would represent a savings to the community of around $140,000 a year.

If voters decide to close the school and send the pupils to Baileyville, not as much would be saved because that community charges a higher tuition, Carter said.

Another option would be to send Alexander youngsters to Calais and use the Alexander facility as an alternative education site for youngsters who are considered high risk. But that idea found little favor with the parents Monday night.

“I don’t want to get sentimental, but the school is the town. A lot of people have moved out here in the last eight or 10 years because of this school – a lot of them to get out of Calais,” said Jim Davis. He said he worries that people would leave Alexander if the school were closed.

Several parents urged the school committee to recruit pupils from neighboring communities.

Carter said the school committee last year sent letters to surrounding towns, asking them to consider sending their pupils to Alexander, but none seemed interested.

Rather than write letters, one parent suggested, the school committee should go directly to Baring, Meddybemps and Charlotte to talk with parents.

On Tuesday, Bouchard said, she had learned that in June 1997 voters at a town meeting decided to accept tuition pupils only from Crawford. If residents want to accept pupils from other communities, she said, they would have to vote for the measure at a town meeting.

Another suggestion that was bandied about Monday night was to invite Calais to send some of its pupils to Alexander. But the superintendent said Calais was locked into a five-year lease for its portable classrooms, also known as pods.

Principal Lynn Silk said the pupils had heard the rumors about the possible school closure and were concerned about where they would attend school next year. She said she hopes the issue can be resolved quickly.

When parents were asked if they want to keep the school open, most indicated that they did.

Carter said the school committee will continue to seek information and hold more public meetings before the town meeting in June.