Dear Editor:

That is what was said we needed in this whole process. At this point, I don’t want to rehash past history. It was said last night (Sunday) that they were not at meetings but that they “were listening.” I can’t put a number on it but we constantly kept saying that the uncomfortable conversations needed to happen.

We went to the Select Board to inform the public of what was taking place at the schools. That was in 2018. We did bond $5 million at that time.

The only functioning process that is available to us is public meetings. They are announced, they are recorded and available. The amount of information that has been generated from this endeavor is enormous! Some of these problems have existed for a very, very long time.

I have said this many times. We were given an unconditional once-in-a-lifetime gift. A chance to find the facts, share with the public and make decisions from there. That was met with conspiracy theories, ulterior motives and lack of “meaningful discussions.”

The proposed bond before the voters right now covers everything in the existing Buildings Report, of which there are two (for the price of two) and a six classroom additions – four classrooms and two science labs, and a 1,500 square foot addition for the new main entrance. To renovate both buildings using the existing Buildings Reports is about $40-$45 million and they cannot be done simultaneously. The escalation for every year we wait is at least 7%+.

Yes, let’s have the “meaningful discussions.”I think it would be the ethical thing to do.

Steven E. Lorrain

Board of Trustees