As it now stands, when Wiscasset voters go to the polls this spring, they will not have the option to keep a school resource officer in the police department budget.

In a pair of decisions Tuesday night, April 21, selectmen first took the position off the warrant with the possibility of its return if the school committee requested it; then later the board decided to keep the position off the warrant altogether.

That decision means that there will be no school resource officer from the Wiscasset Police Department in the Wiscasset schools for the next school year, Selectmen’s Chairman Pam Dunning said after the meeting.

If the school committee wants a security position for the schools it would have to hire a contractor, Dunning explained.

Wiscasset High School Principal Cheri Towle on Wednesday, April 22, said she was very disturbed by the selectmen’s decision and that it brought tears to her eyes.

“It makes our schools unsafe,” Towle writes in Wednesday’s email response to the Wiscasset Newspaper’s request for comment. “This day we need to put safety first and the selectmen are not even giving the voters a choice in making the decision. I met with the town manager just last week to discuss the position and how well Perry was doing. This option was never mentioned to the admin team.

“Chief (Troy) Cline and (Officer) Perry Hatch presented to the school board about how the program is benefiting our kids. I have always worked in high schools that had a school resource officer. It's the right thing to do for the safety, education and well being of our students, parents and teachers,” Towle writes.

Town Manager Marian Anderson told selectmen Tuesday that school principals are finding the resource officer’s position helpful.

“I am shocked and dismayed at the two different votes by the board of selectmen late last night regarding the School Resource Officer (SRO) warrant article,” Cline writes in a separate response to the Wiscasset Newspaper’s request for comment. “This is yet another decision made by the board of selectmen that concerns me. I am not sure that their decisions are in keeping with the wishes of the very people that voted them into office.

“SRO Perry Hatch and I made a presentation to the school committee recently regarding the status of the program and its successes. We even asked the committee and members of the audience if there was anything we could do to improve the program. Everyone seemed happy with the SRO program and SRO Hatch specifically.

“SRO Hatch has been in several high profile cases recently involving students or people interacting with students. Each case has resulted in charges and/or an arrests being made. He has developed a positive relationship with most of the students as well,” Cline writes in the April 22 email. “This decision will have a negative impact on the children of our community and the community as a whole.

“I strongly disagree with the selectmens’ vote and feel it is sacrificing a valuable program to benefit a minimal effect on the budget. I hope the residents also voice their opinions, whether positive or negative, regarding this action taken by the board of selectmen.”

In the first of Tuesday’s two discussions on the topic, Board Vice Chairman Ben Rines Jr. said he did not feel comfortable or capable of recommending the position’s funding. The recommendation should come from the school committee, he said.

“I would respect their opinion, but I won’t respect their silence,” Rines said.

Rines added that if the school committee would make the recommendation, he would favor putting the position back on the warrant.

Then later in the meeting, a woman in the audience asked selectmen to consider having the item on the warrant so that the taxpayers could decide it. That led to the second discussion, during which the board consulted budget committee members on hand for the meeting. They informed the selectmen that the committee has not favored the position being in the budget.

The board then decided against having Town Manager Marian Anderson ask the school committee about the position. Instead, it will not go on the warrant.

The board made plans to complete its approval of the warrant and sign it at 4:30 p.m. Monday, April 27 at the municipal building.

Attempts to reach School Committee Chairman Steve Smith for comment on Tuesday’s developments were not immediately successful.

Voters created the position in 2014, after a rise in substance abuse issues at the high school. Cline, school principals and others have praised Officer Perry Hatch’s work with high school students and younger students this school year.

In other action Tuesday, selectmen agreed to have Sprague’s Lobster and Ridgeback Pottery back as pier vendors, approved a new vendor, the Wiscasset Area Chamber of Commerce, which plans to have a kiosk; and agreed to get an appraisal on the weather vane formerly atop a cupola on the municipal building. The board wants to find out if the weather vane should be repaired or if it would need to be left unrepaired in order to retain its value. Board members discussed possibly getting an acrylic case for displaying the weather vane.