I am writing to the voters of the Twin Valley School District to share my position in regard to the facility options: renovate the Wilmington site or the consolidation of Wilmington and Whitingham’s elementary schools.
The consolidation concept, fundamentally, I believe in itself is an idea that could save money by taking a building out of use. I have serious reservations as to this option as it’s planned however, there are some considerations that I have deemed insurmountable. The plan is to close the Wilmington high school facility and move to the Whitingham elementary/junior high site and relocate Whitingham elementary students to the Deerfield Valley Elementary School.
My primary objection to this is the geographical challenges that we would face by moving the high school to Whitingham. I strongly believe that we would lose tuition students by moving the high school and I am concerned that it will be even more difficult to attract families to move to the Deerfield Valley area. The savings by consolidating is not totally clear although it is agreed that there are set costs that will be reduced by removing a building. There are costs that I believe are not indicated in this consolidation plan which will effect the Wilmington tax rate. I suspect that there will be expenses associated with this consolidation idea that are “unknowns” or that people have not considered such as: maintaining the Wilmington site (Wilmington’s responsibility?), transportation issues, lost tuition students, increased costs in heating and utilities in the DVES and Whitingham sites (these buildings will be renovated and additions will be built to accommodate the students), and the construction of more athletic fields to accommodate our sports programs are some expenses that come to mind. Could this put us in the “penalty box”?
There are too many “unknowns” for me to take a chance on closing the Wilmington site forever. I believe that the high school in Wilmington serves as the center of our community and closing it will have a negative impact on our economic future.
The renovation option is a more clear and sensible option in my opinion because of the more certain answers it provides to many of our facilities issues. In this option, the 1900s section of the building will be demolished and a new wing will be constructed on the south side of the current library and shop area. A practical, “value engineered” addition along with some needed mechanical upgrades to the remaining structure will result in cost savings from fuel oil and utilities. (It is no secret how inefficient the 1900 building is.) There is going to be a new entrance and exit for busing along with a resurfaced parking area in the proposed renovation. I believe that this option would serve well into any future plans if consolidating or unionizing is deemed to be necessary as it is situated in a geographically ideal location for all the surrounding towns.
Either option is better than doing nothing. It is important for us to decide on one of these two options, we can no longer procrastinate in making a decision so important to our communities’ future because the longer we wait, the more costly it will be.
I do not believe that consolidating or renovating will magically make our academics better, this is another matter that is continually being worked on. The facilities problem and our academics issues are two different issues and both need to be solved.
As a Twin Valley School Board director, Wilmington School Board director, a business owner, a parent, a voter, and a taxpayer of the town of Wilmington, I am very concerned about the future of this town and the direction in which it is moving.
Jason Crawford
Wilmington
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