On Nov. 7, citizens of Mechanic Falls, Minot and Poland will vote to approve a middle school building proposal to alleviate serious overcrowding, remove inadequate portable classrooms and improve the safety of both the middle school and high school.

The RSU 16 superintendent, the director of operations, and the school board chairperson have made numerous community presentations of the project. Nearly all who have attended those presentations have agreed upon the immediate necessity for the project and support the judgment and fiscal responsibility the school board has exercised in the current iteration of the proposal.

Some Poland officials, because they presume a responsibility to protect Poland citizens from educational costs, have chosen to throw financial brickbats at the RSU board. However, the RSU board, as elected representatives from the three towns, is responsible for the educational portion of the tax bill. The attitude that Poland has been abused by the RSU is difficult to understand, given that the middle and high schools are located in Poland, Poland has the most up-to-date elementary school facility, and the proposed building project will actually cost Poland taxpayers less than those in the other two towns.

While Poland, Mechanic Falls and Minot are three individual and unique towns, when it comes to education — the most important civic responsibility — the three towns are one community.

I hope others will join me in support of this necessary project.

Donald Stover, Poland

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