HARRISON — Resident Saara Ryan attended the Jan. 9 Select Board meeting to provide perspective to selectmen and community members about Maine School Administrative District 17’s proposal to consolidate students primarily from Harrison, Waterford and Norway within a new school, to be built over the next three to five years in a location central to all three communities.
Ryan is a librarian for Harrison Elementary School and Waterford Memorial School. She also serves on SAD 17’s Elementary School Building Committee.

Saara Ryan speaks during the public comment period of Harrison’s Jan. 9 Select Board meeting. A resident of Harrison, Ryan is employed as Harrison Elementary and Waterford Memorial schools’ librarian and serves on the Oxford Hills school district’s elementary building construction committee.
With several copies of an FAQ sheet on school construction to distribute, Ryan stated that school consolidation would positively impact students of Harrison and Waterford with support services not currently available to them, and that class sizes are projected to remain at 16-18 students, not increase.
“I love Harrison and Waterford (schools), but I also see that they’re at 50% capacity,” she said. “We cannot get services at our schools. We do not have a full time nurse, or occupational therapists. We have part-time speech therapists …. We have the opportunity to get a new school that can help our children in the future.
“If the schools consolidate we would be able to give those services to our Harrison students. You don’t realize how many students need those services and can’t get them.
“Check your facts. Don’t jump to conclusions on what this new school is going to look like … go ahead on charter schooling. My son went to private school once. It’s expensive.”
Ryan, who has been HES/WMS’ librarian for the last two years, cautioned that if staff have to choose between remaining with Harrison’s school or remaining with the school district, they will stay with SAD 17. She acknowledged that transportation is a challenge that district administration is actively addressing, but advised that some information provided by the Select Board at its Dec. 12 meeting was lacking in facts.
SAD 17’s school construction proposal is slated for a district-wide referendum vote in November. The district is comprised of the Oxford Hills towns of Harrison, Hebron, Norway, Otisfield, Oxford, Paris, Waterford and West Paris.
Some residents and municipal officials from several towns have publicly opposed the proposal. Two of them – Paris and West Paris – filed a lawsuit against SAD 17 for improperly closing Agnes Gray Elementary School last February and sending West Paris students to Paris Elementary School.
When Harrison first learned last spring that its elementary school might close, officials formed a working group to study options of remaining with or exiting SAD 17. That working group has since been reorganized into the town-sanctioned Harrison Educational Options Committee (HEOC), which will focus on determining the best direction for all of Harrison’s school-aged students.
The HEOC meets Monday afternoons at 4:30. Meeting locations may vary, but residents are encouraged to attend. The committee is utilizing a public Facebook Group to post updates, meeting locations and meeting agendas and minutes. It is chaired by Harrison resident Mike Guiffre, who may be reached via email at mjguff@gmail.com.
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