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Wayne committee frames school question simply: 'keep open' or 'allow to close'
Summary
Committee members agreed to present the Wayne Elementary School question in the survey as a binary choice — ensure the school stays open or allow it to close — after extended discussion of RSU options, phasing proposals and fiscal implications.
Committee members narrowed how the survey will ask about Wayne Elementary School after lengthy discussion of district proposals and possible ways to keep the school open. The committee agreed that the survey should pose a straightforward choice: either ensure Wayne Elementary stays open or allow Wayne Elementary to close. That binary framing was favored to avoid leading respondents or embedding complex fiscal tradeoffs into a single question.
Members discussed alternative phrasing and options (phasing some grades out, withdrawing from the RSU, and doing 'everything possible' to keep the school open) and noted that the survey is not the right vehicle for detailed fiscal tradeoffs. Committee members said a separate working group and consultant work (already budgeted) will examine concrete options and costs; that work will inform later decisions. The committee also refined a follow‑up question asking respondents how they think a closure (or keeping the school open) would affect the town's ability to retain or attract families, and added neutral/'no opinion' choices to capture uncertainty.
No formal vote on school policy was taken; the committee's decision was procedural — to present a simplified public‑opinion question and to continue technical analysis through the working group and consultant engagement.
