Dear Editor:

To Boothbay/Boothbay Harbor residents, parents, students, business owners and taxpayers:

One year, 365 days or 52 weeks ... however you identify, the towns will be voting on a bond issue. This bond will ask if you would like to keep the high school and repair, replace and remodel. It will also ask the same for the elementary school. Same bond, same schools. That will be Question 1.

Question 2 will ask to remove the high school and place it on a new footprint, with updates to the existing elementary school and adding a middle school addition. Two questions, one answer ... sounds simple doesn’t it?

For well over a year now, the Building Exploratory Committee has been gathering the numbers. This actually started in 2019. Everybody knows the rest. This information will be coming out very soon and everybody needs to pay attention. It’s free; doesn’t cost anything. Stay informed; that’s also free.

We have some very dedicated volunteers helping. We need more ... we need your input, your ideas and some of your time.

Population studies, existing conditions reports (there are two) can be as boring as watching paint dry. You need to see and understand them. The Committee will help however we can. There will be community meetings in the near future and tours of the existing buildings. Here are the parts that have some cost. Invest some time and attend. Don’t just take our word for anything. See for yourself. Many people in this community got together and raised a large sum of money, gave it with no strings attached so that the School District could look into this and chart a course forward. I want to be able to tell all of these people that we did our very best at plotting our course, or as they say in school, “we did our homework,” and let the voters decide.

The public meetings will be announced soon. To have your say, be there. There will probably be some kind of “interweb” thing also.

Oh! The part that is not free is the bond. Pay attention, be informed and vote. Yes, there is a cost to bond, one way or the other. Hopefully we can have the proper information so you can make that informed vote.

Steve Lorrain Sr.

Board of Trustees