Dear Editor:

In all the letters and articles related to the proposed school building project I don't recall seeing one option discussed.

I think it is clear the over 60 year old high school needs major renovation, and complete demolition is likely the best approach.

That is if you are convinced we need and can afford a high school. From all the numbers I have seen we simply do not have enough students to justify building a high school. Like other small towns we simply cannot afford it. That is why the state system allows for tuition schemes to let small town students go to other schools.

I am sure a lot of long-time locals will scream at the thought of not having a high school, but when we live in a small town, and one at the end of a 10-mile peninsula, we understand we cannot have everything. We no longer have a full hospital because we don't have enough people to support it. We have only one small supermarket. We don't have a big box building material store. We don't have a Walmart.

There are lots of things we don't have because of our size and location. I'm sure many will agree we don't want some of these big city things, and that may be why we are here. But when it comes to spending large amounts of taxpayer money we need to be sure we can afford the expense.

I suggest we dismantle the old school and either start a regionalization plan or use the tuition plan to support our children. And I understand no reasonable region would have the school at the end of a peninsula.

I fully understand many people will be upset at this letter, but all my life I have tried to make realistic choices. An $89 million school for barely 120 students is not realistic.

Ron Ginger

Boothbay

Editor’s note: Boothbay Region High School has 171 students, not 120 mentioned in this letter. There are over 500 students in both the high and elementary schools.