Sebago Withdrawal Committee

Minutes of Meeting

28 September 2017

Sebago Town Offices

1.Call to order and Roll Call

The meeting was called to order by Lisa Johnson at 7:12 pm. There not being a quorum of the Committee present, no actions were taken. Discussions were held on agenda items, however, and are recorded below.

Members of the Sebago Withdrawal Committee present:

Joe McMahon

Lisa Johnson

Guests present:

Sebago Withdrawal Committee Minutes 28 September 2017

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Phil Lowe, Treasurer

Allen Crabtree, Secretary

Claudia Lowe

Donelle Allen

June Allen

2.Adjustments to the Agenda

There were none

3.Approval of minutes

Minutes from the 21 September 2017 meeting were discussed but no action was taken to approve or modify them. They will be brought back to the next Committee meeting for action.

4.Comments by the Public

There were none.

5.Old Business

There was a discussion of the public hearing on 26 September. Lisa arranged for LRTV to videotape the hearing and will contact LRTV to find out when it is going to be aired. Joe will contact them to see if they will provide a CD of the taping.

6.New Business

There was discussion about materials to get ready for the 7 November Referendum.

  • Mailings – Claudia suggested doing a trifold instead of the post card format. This would allow more information to be presented. Mailings would go to all Sebago postal patrons on 25 or 26 October in advance of the 7 November referendum. There was general agreement to prepare a trifold, and Allen will get a price quote from the printer. It was suggested that some of these areas might be covered in it:
  • State the threat to closing – include quotes from the facility reports recommending closing SES
  • Include testimonials from towns that have withdrawn successfully
  • Quotes about future repurposing of SES by MSAD61 if Sebago stays in MSAD61
  • Information on the status of Sebago’s Board Members in the overall Board vote.
  • Insert pictures from SES, including a picture of the building, school activities (e.g. Veterans Day), teacher appreciation (smiley faces) – Lisa will get them and will send to Allen
  • Provide a positive message from SES – quality of education, teacher-parent involvement
  • Positive results – 8 of 10 top HS graduates are from SES (Joe and Lisa to confirm)
  • Positive results – SES test scores
  • Present cost projections, including other sources of revenue for Special Ed
  • Presentations – give a short presentation about the withdrawal situation at the Lions Club and the Senior Luncheon. Lisa will check with June Johnson about dates. Possible dates for Senior Luncheon are Oct 24, 31 and Nov 7. Allen offered to prepare a shortened version of the Public Hearing PowerPoint that could be put on flash cards or a hand out.
  • Handouts – Allen will get estimates for printing the two handouts, for distribution by canvassers, at locations in town including the town offices, the library, Jordan’s and 4-Seasons. Lisa suggested that realtor information boxes are available at Lowes and Home Depot which could be posted at the dump and other locations with flyers. Allen will check prices next time he is in Windham. Phil will approach Michelle for permission to have the handouts at the town offices. Claudia will have a posting on the library sign “withdrawal information at the library.” Lisa will ask the principal about sending the handouts home with the Friday mailings with students.
  • Road Signs – Lisa has ordered 50 signs and volunteers will put them out around town on 1 November.
  • Canvassing – There was discussion of canvassing teams going door-to-door and distribution the handouts.
  • Claudia and Ann McMahon - Anderson Road, Route 114 to Nasons
  • Mary MacKinnon – Long Beach
  • Wendy and Grove – Route 107 to Long Hill Road
  • Donelle and June – Hancock Pond Road
  • ______- Route 114, Long Beach to Nasons
  • Amber - Marina and Shore Road
  • ______- Convene Road
  • ______- Peabody Pond
  • Ads in Shopping Guide and Bridgton News – it was felt that these would not be effective for the cost and will not be done.
  • Friends Meeting – should there be another Friends meeting scheduled before 7 November to encourage people to get out and vote? Donelle was going to approach Denise.
  • Social Media – Lisa is handling and is paying Facebook for promotions to get to a larger audience.

Phil gave a treasurer’s report. The balance in the account is $6,562.64 before bills from Mark and Dan for the 26 Sept Public Hearing. Net after their bills will leave about $3,000 in the account.

7.Adjourn

The meeting of the Committee concluded at 8:42 p.m.

  • The next Committee meeting was scheduled for Thursday, 12 October 2017 at 7pm at the Town Offices.

Sebago Withdrawal Committee Minutes 28 September 2017

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