A measure that would have begun the process of closing Swanville’s elementary school failed at the RSU 71 school board meeting on Monday.
In late January, the district’s administration proposed closing the Kermit Nickerson School at the end of the school year to cut costs. Since then, some Swanville residents and school board members have raised concerns that the decision would be made too quickly and without enough input from the community.
Only two of the nine school board members, Madison Cook and Laura Baker of Belfast, voted against the measure on Monday. Sherri Klosterman, who is also from Belfast, was absent. But the measure failed because it required a two-thirds supermajority to pass and each member’s vote is weighted based on the population of the town they represent.
During the meeting, board members read through statutes on the fly and had conflicting interpretations of the law. Baker raised doubts that the board and administration fully understood the statutes and legal implications of potentially closing the school. “I have many questions. I need legal advice,” she said.
She also argued that the district should develop a comprehensive strategy to address inequities among schools before it decides to close schools.
Several Swanville residents spoke out against the closure at the meeting. Ben Pratt said the community was “blindsided” by the administration’s proposal to close the school.
“We’re a small community,” he said. “We don’t have a post office. We don’t have a fire department. You know what we do have? A school. It would be really hard to see that go.”
Cory Seekins, the only board member from Swanville, was in favor of closing the school. He acknowledged that closing Nickerson Elementary would be painful, but noted that the number of school age children in Swanville has been declining. He argued that it would be more cost effective for the district to close the school and redirect resources elsewhere.
“If we can take that money and turn it around and use it for the benefit of our students, rather than heating a building that’s operating at a third of the capacity, I think that’s the better option,” he said.
Fifty-seven students are enrolled at the Nickerson school. Under the administration’s proposal, the students would have been transferred to the Captain Albert Stevens School in Belfast.
After the meeting, Swanville resident Bruce Pratt said he thought it was “extremely unprofessional” that there was no legal representative at the meeting.
“There should have been someone there to completely explain the legal ramifications,” he said. “And I think the reason it didn’t pass is because they started to figure out that they didn’t know what they were talking about.”
Interim superintendent Bob England disputed the notion that legal questions weren’t adequately resolved. “The board completely spelled it out,” he said.
He said the decision was the board’s to make and whether the question is revisited in the future will be up to the board. But he stood by the proposal to close the school.
“It’s financially the right thing to do for the district. It’s educationally the most sound thing to do for the district,” he said.
