Two-room school will stay open

SHIRLEY – Local residents voted 49-22 Monday to keep the two-room school open rather than pay tuition to send the elementary pupils to neighboring schools next year.

The result of the annual town meeting vote brought a small chorus of “yays” from the back of the town hall. Last year, the vote to keep the school open was a narrow one and was based on an anticipated school enrollment of six pupils. By September, there were 10 pupils enrolled, with two traveling from an unorganized township above Greenville to the school. A similar number is anticipated next fall.

Superintendent Steve Pound told residents Monday that it would cost $198,000 to close the school compared to $195,000 to operate it in 2004. He estimated that if the school was closed this year, the town would have a savings of about $17,000 the second year, and an estimated savings of $21,000 in the third year. These savings, however, would be offset by the loss of about $20,000 in tuition that is now paid to Shirley to educate two children who live outside the community.

Pound said some costs would remain constant were the school to close. For instance, the town would still need to fund a school committee and a superintendent. If school choice was extended to include all pupils, rather than just pupils in grades 6-12, and more than one school was selected by the pupils, transportation costs could increase, he said.

Some residents favored tuitioning the pupils to SAD 4 schools because the district had lower per-pupil costs than Greenville. Pound confirmed that there were differences, reporting that elementary costs in Greenville are $6,500 per pupil compared to $4,500 in SAD 4. At the high school level, Greenville’s per-pupil cost is $6,200 compared to $5,225 in SAD 4. In other business, residents voted down a proposed ban on all-terrain vehicle use on all publicly maintained roads in the community. Residents who supported the move were upset because operators of all-terrain vehicles frequently travel at high speeds on town roads even though it is against the law.

Elected to office Monday were the following: Lucy Labonte, town clerk; John Lavigne, selectman; Judy Baker, town treasurer; Geneva Beckwith, tax collector; Raymond Day and Tom Othouse to the school board; Tom Othouse, sexton; and Bob Graves, road commissioner.