Who are we as a community?
BY MARIA GLASER
I am a 79 year old retiree, living in Cape Elizabeth 43 years; I wholeheartedly endorse Option E.
Chief among reasons we chose to relocate to Cape Elizabeth was the quality of the school system. I believe public schools create the backbone of our society. It was important to my husband and me that we live among people who support public schools and were willing to pay property taxes commensurate with high quality education.
Attending School Building Advisory Committee meetings these past months is disappointing. Rather than evaluating the options on educational needs expressed by the faculty and staff, the overwhelming consideration of the 5 member majority is to keep taxes as low as possible, cobbling together a plan of PARTIAL renovation and addition to an already outdated, cumbersome, poorly maintained hodgepodge of buildings
Of 17 towns in Cumberland County, Cape has the LOWEST tax rate; this in a town with a median housing price of $700+ thousand dollars. We also have the highest percentage of senior citizens, hence an expenditure of $875,000 for Pickleball Courts. As a senior citizen, I applaud the School Board for rejecting Option B and moving forward with a plan based on educational requirements.
I also urge the town council, which meetings also disappoint, to be more responsible; to undertake long term planning for maintenance and replacement of aging facilities, community wide, with an accent on “green” construction.
Who are we as a community, if we abandon our children’s needs?
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