NEW SWEDEN, Maine — By just a 13-vote margin, residents Tuesday chose to close the New Sweden Consolidated School.
The vote was 122 to 109 in favor of closing the school, according to unofficial election results released Wednesday. The results will not be considered legal until after they are officially read by the moderator at the town meeting on June 15.
The building remains owned by the town, giving New Sweden officials a handful of options moving forward: they can lease the building to an outside owner, transfer ownership to another entity, put it up for sale on the open market, or tear it down.
Additionally, Judith Mann was elected to serve on the school board for a three year term and Kasey McNeally was elected for a one year term. Michael Landeen was elected to serve as “Selectman/Assessor/Overseer of the Poor” for a three year term.
School closure has been a polarizing issue in New Sweden, and as a result, many residents voting on June 13 declined to comment publicly on the issue or to discuss how they voted.
One who was willing to offer an opinion, indicated that her vote in favor of closure came down to the savings involved and the possibility of the building being reused for another purpose.
“With the community getting older, a senior center has been mentioned,” Linda Lewitt said. “The good thing would be that the building could be repurposed for a good reason and offer extra-curricular activities for seniors and adults.”
Lewitt said she did not have a difficult time voting to close the school since she has a background in finance.
“We met personally with the school committee,” Lewitt said, “and they gave more of a ballpark for what teacher salaries really are. They gave us really close calculations and broke it down for us. We also learned quite a bit at the informational meeting.”
Officials with Union 122, which serves Woodland, New Sweden, and Westmanland, estimate that New Sweden taxpayers will save roughly $239,400 annually by closing the school and instead paying tuition to send elementary school students to Woodland. To keep the school open, officials estimated the property tax rate would have had to go up $5 per $1,000 of valuation in the community of about 600 residents.
