Dear Editor:

We would like to thank the 40+ citizens who attended the public forum on April 14 to discuss the upcoming $30 million BRES bond referendum. We appreciated having an open and respectful dialogue with all who attended. We appreciate the Harbor Theater’s generosity in providing their venue for the meeting.

Approximately 400 residents from both towns have signed the petition for a more affordable option to fix BRES. Everyone believes renovations should get started right away and $10 million dollars will go a long way to knocking off the list of issues.

Petitioners cannot fix the school. The Board of Trustees are responsible for this task. Whatever sum of money is approved for repairing the school, the Board of Trustees has full latitude in how these dollars are spent.

We would like to see a committee made up of broad community representation to review all options for middle and high school grades.

Citizens are concerned about double digit school budget increases on top of multiple bonds. Citizens should know that there have been charter violations due to loaning money or employees to other towns’ schools. Citizens should know that the level of the boards’ referendum advertising has resulted in a state ethics commission investigation. Citizens need more transparency and financial oversight.

While we may not all agree on what we can afford, we can agree that we want our children to have a good education, succeed in life and be happy. We look forward to more collaborative conversations going forward.  

Vote No on April 24.   

Patty Minerich and Denise Griffin

Boothbay Harbor