Staff Writer
BRIDGEWATER – The 29 children who currently attend Bridgewater Grammar School will be the last to walk the halls of the 60-year-old building.
Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson
LAST TUESDAY, residents decided by a vote of 232 to 108 to close the Bridgewater Grammar School June 30, 2009. The additional cost of keeping the school open has been estimated by the school committee to be $144,558 per year. The building was constructed in the mid-1940s as a replacement to the high school, which burned down. It was used as a high school until the mid-1960s when local students started attending Central Aroostook Junior-Senior High School. Now children in pre-kindergarten through grade six attend Bridgewater Grammar School, while seventh-graders through grade 12 attend school in Mars Hill.
Last Tuesday, residents decided by a vote of 232 to 108 to close the school June 30, 2009.
“That’s a confirming statement [on the issue] from the community,” said Superintendent Gehrig Johnson.
After notifying the Commissioner of Education of the vote, the school committee will begin the process of negotiating where to send the students next year.
“We will be talking to Mars Hill (SAD 42) and possibly other school systems surrounding Bridgewater,” said Johnson. “Because the amount to charge per student is negotiable, that process has to work itself out.”
Children in pre-kindergarten through grade six attend Bridgewater Grammar School. There are nine employees including three full-time and one part-time teacher.
“The staff will be looking to be relocated,” Johnson said, “and those who want to continue will be applying for jobs.”
After the school is closed, the building will be turned over to the town.
This is not the first time the issue of closing the school has surfaced.
“It’s been a topic of conversation for many, many years,” said Johnson. “I think what led to the ballot referendum was that the expense of keeping the school open has been an increasing burden over the last few years as the student population dwindles.”
The additional cost of keeping the school open has been estimated by the school committee to be $144,558 per year.
“I think the school committee understood that there is a concern in the community about finance,” Johnson said, “but they are solidly behind the school, and I think the community loves its school. It’s not something they want to do, but at some point, you have to make these decisions based on whether it’s financially feasible to keep them open.
“Our main objective is to make this as smooth a transition for the students as we can,” he said. “We’re going to do whatever we can to keep the students on task and keep their stress down through the process. We want it to be a seamless transition.”
Nina Bradstreet, chair of the Bridgewater School Committee, said the board decided it was time to bring the issue to a referendum after the town failed to vote for the school budget on two separate occasions.
“We had a budget meeting in June and people voted the budget down because it was too high,” she said. “In July, we brought the same budget but provided them with more information, and they voted it down again. At our third budget meeting, the proposal was lower. Residents didn’t want a raise in the mill rate, so we ended up cutting half a teacher. We didn’t raise the mill, so they were satisfied with that.
“After we finally got the budget voted in,” said Bradstreet, “we said, ‘We hear what the people are saying and it’s time to put this on referendum’ and that’s what we did. Also with the state, we’re not sure what we’re going to get for finances, and it would be hard to move on next year because the budget would have to go up again.”
With a shrinking enrollment, Bradstreet said it’s “hard to justify all that money for so few children.”
“In order to keep your school running the way it needs to run,” she said, “you’ve got to have money to do that, and you can’t let the education suffer.”
At a school committee meeting held last Thursday night, directors decided they wanted to receive proposals from all area schools regarding tuitioning the students.
“Dr. Johnson will be drafting a letter to the area schools letting them know this is what the situation is,” said Bradstreet, “and seeing what their interest is.”
According to Toby Hall, historian of the Bridgewater Historical Association, the current Bridgewater Grammar School building was constructed in the mid-1940s as a replacement to the high school, which burned down. It was used as a high school until the mid-1960s when local students started attending Central Aroostook High School. Now children in pre-kindergarten through grade six attend Bridgewater Grammar School, while seventh-graders through grade 12 attend school in Mars Hill.
