Wiscasset selectmen agreed Tuesday to ask residents to approve a committee that will look at the future of the town’s high school. Kathleen O’Brien / The Times Record

Wiscasset selectmen took the first step in re-evaluating the town’s high school, a process that could result in anything from ceasing instruction for grades 9-12 to expanding the school.

Selectmen voted 4-1 Tuesday to add a question to the annual town meeting warrant that will begin the process. Residents will vote in June whether to approve the creation of a committee that would “study the future of the Wiscasset School Department including all options for expansion, consolidation, or continuing the status quo.”

Selectmen and Town Manager Dennis Simmons said they’ve been asked by residents for years what the financial impact of ceasing instruction for grades 9-12 would be but have never acted on the question until now.

“This is an effort to finally take that question, look at if it would be less expensive to tuition students out, and put it to bed one way or another,” said Simmons.

“I’ve heard over and over in the town that people want to know what it would cost to close the high school,” select board Chair Pamela Dunning said. “You don’t hear a lot of people asking how we can get more students in town. (The cost to close the high school) is what they want to know … that’s what’s on their minds.”

Vice-chair Katharine Martin-Savage stressed the Wiscasset Middle High School, which serves grades 7-12, is not at risk of closing.

“This is merely looking into the financial impact of (ceasing grades) 9-12 and tuitioning them to the school of their choice,” said Martin-Savage.

If Wiscasset stops educating grades 9-12 within its own district, it wouldn’t be the first.

Nearly 1,100 schools, including 330 secondary schools, in the U.S. closed between 2016-2017, according to the most recent data from the National Center of Education Statistics. The schools that closed had enrolled about 189,000 students in total.

Simmons said it’s important to remember that the expense of educating students would not disappear if the town eventually decided to discontinue grades 9-12.

The town would still shoulder the cost of paying tuition for those students to attend other schools, but the town hasn’t yet figured out which option would be cheaper for taxpayers.

Wiscasset Middle High School Principal Charles Lomonte and Wiscasset Superintendent Terry Wood did not return requests for comment Wednesday regarding how many students are enrolled in grades 9-12.

The Wiscasset School Department has its own budget separate from the town. The school department’s 2020-2021 budget weighed in at a little over $10 million, according to the district’s website. However, it’s unclear how much the high school alone costs compared to elementary or middle school instruction.

Both the municipal and school budgets contribute to the town’s property tax rate, which currently sits at $20.12 per $1,000 of valuation, according to Simmons. This means a house in Wiscasset valued at $200,000 has a $4,024 annual tax bill.

Dunning said the school budget accounts for “more than half of the local tax bill” but said there’s “no way of knowing what percentage of that is the high school.”

“The most important thing to keep in mind is that our children deserve a good education in a strong school system,” said Dunning. “This study could help residents understand the school system better and may help find ways to better that system for our children.”