Comments lay bare the pain of Agnes Gray school closure in West Paris

About 100 people attend Monday night’s Maine School Administrative District 17’s board meeting at Paris Elementary School to address concerns about the closure of 1800s Agnes Gray School in West Paris. Some reminded administrators and directors that 120 students in grades prekindergarten to six are caught in the bureaucracy of state funding for school construction and years of poor management of the district’s oldest school. Nicole Carter/Advertiser Democrat

PARIS — Abigail Libby, a kindergarten teacher at Legion Memorial Elementary School in West Paris, sobbed as she called out administrators and directors of Maine School Administrative District 17 this week for forgetting her students since closing the nearby Agnes Gray Elementary School on Main Street.

She was among 20 of the approximate 100 people speaking at Monday night’s board meeting at Paris Elementary School about the effects of the sudden closure of the 1800s school Feb. 6.

Superintendent Heather Manchester ordered the closure, which directors supported, a day after the school was deemed uninhabitable due to multiple failures, including lack of adequate fire protection and functional emergency exits, exterior and interior stairwells that are not up to code and a leaky roof.

While students in grades one to six at Agnes Gray school were moved to Paris Elementary and Guy E. Rowe School on Main Street in Norway, prekindergarten and kindergarten students stayed at Legion Memorial school on Kingsbury Street where they have been for several years.

Libby struggled as she explained what it was like for her and her students in the days following the closure.

“Kindergarten returned Feb. 7 as if nothing had happened,” she said, sobbing. “I was not given any time to grieve the loss of our school … Teaching at Legion was already an island and now it’s even more of one.

“Central Office helped empty the building at Agnes, checking in on staff. But they never came down to check on kindergarten, even though we were back in the building, or to check in on me.

“Friday, Feb. 8, students began showing behaviors that were happening at the beginning of the year … screaming, crying and being physical with each other,” Libby said. “I feel at fault because of my anxiety and not being able to process what is happening, and transferring (that) to my students. I am a 25-year-old adult. How am I, not being able to regulate my own emotions, how can I expect my five-and-six-year-old students to process theirs?” she asked.

“My classroom used to be a place of love and happiness. And now it’s overwhelming anxiety that my students have and all I can do is comfort them and answer their questions (about what happens next) with a simple ‘I don’t know.'”

Libby said she requested that her class receive counseling and was told it is not a required service for students and not available.

“What hurts the most, is that only two staff from Central Office have reached out to me,” she said. “And no one has checked in on my kids. Why have you not checked on my students? Why have you not checked on me? …. Why are my students less of a priority? We are still here and we are not OK.”

Following Libby, who was the first to speak during public comment, former board Chairman Dale Piirainen of West Paris spoke briefly about the difficulty and importance of acknowledging mistakes and correcting them.

Donnie Abbott called for Manchester to be fired, contending that she broke state law by closing the school. He also said West Paris should refuse to pay its share of the school budget and join Maine School Administrative District 44 based in Bethel.

Others reminded administrators and directors that 120 students in grades prekindergarten to six are caught in the bureaucracy of state funding for school construction and years of poor management of the district’s oldest school.

The Maine Department of Education’s list of school construction projects has Agnes Gray school scheduled for replacement in 2030, give or take a year.

Principals Samantha Armstrong of Agnes Gray school and Cathy Bickford of Guy E. Rowe School and district Transportation Director Chuck Beardsley spoke about efforts made to welcome West Paris students, but their optimism for making the best of a difficult situation did not match parents’ and educators’ descriptions of what their children have experienced since Agnes Gray closed.

One father said his 7-year-old daughter was bullied and ganged up on by older students she did not know on her bus.

A mother said since Agnes Gray closed, her child wakes up every day with anxiety and a headache.

Another said the start of every school day is disrupted because late-arriving buses. And the school food pantry that assisted dozens of families has closed because Good Shepherd Food Bank no longer supplies it.

Manchester and directors did not respond to any public comments, which is the policy for board meetings. However, as the comment period ended, Chairman Troy Ripley of Paris announced that questions and concerns will be answered in the near future.