Residents of Durham likely to be impacted by not having grandfathering and who cannot (understandably) see beyond that, or if they send children to private school and want help paying for this, will probably vote against the consolidated school district.

Brunswick has been great to offer a contract to continue accepting our students for five to 10 years (if we guarantee 80 percent of our students, or its financial equivalent). People will also vote against the CSD if governance, cost, students’ reports of being put down at BHS, and our students’ MEA scores significantly dropping between their eighth- and 11th-grade years are not issues.

Lisbon’s top three school administrators all have records of turning challenging schools into high performers. Over the past five years, the measurable improvements, including MEA scores, resulting from their work has been impressive. The school committee and town have stood behind their commitment to continue on that track through policy, programming and financial support.

Research says that 600 to 800 is an optimum high school population. Lisbon has invited us into a win-win situation. With a CSD, both sets of students will have a school of optimum size. Durham will own a share of a school, and Lisbon’s chance for a new facility increases.

If people believe sending students from classes of 45 to 150 instead of 270, that owning versus renting is preferable, if smaller class sizes, governance, community involvement and lower costs to the town are important, the CSD should be supported.

Jane Blais, Durham

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