Over time, a proposed charter school in Wiscasset could force the shutdown of Wiscasset Middle High School, School Committee Chairman Steve Smith said.

Losing students would lower state funding, and not cut the fixed costs to operate the building, Smith said.

 “We’re a small community. We’re losing students now ... Everybody is,” Smith told members of the Sheepscot Bay Charter School’s inception committee July 30. “To have another player in the game (increases the loss).”

Inception committee member Les Fossel predicted the opposite: The charter school could bring students from Dresden, Woolwich, Alna and other towns back to Wiscasset, he said.

“This was the center of their school community ... I’d like to see that put back together (and) make Wiscasset a center of educational excellence that people come to.”

The discussion was the first between the two panels. The proposed charter school is seeking state approval, but would rather the school department create it, Fossel said. “We like that idea better, because that would guarantee that we find a way to cooperate.”

Smith said he supports the proposed school’s concept of adding to students’ choices for learning, but instead of a charter school with an appointed board not accountable to taxpayers, he would be interested in the program being part of Wiscasset Middle High.

The School Committee’s new Vice Chairman Eugene Stover echoed Smith’s concerns about a financial hit to the school department if a charter school opened.

“I can’t see where we’re going to benefit financially from this,” he said.

School Committee member Glen Craig expressed support for a charter school.

“Choice is a good thing in anything we do,” Craig said. He would have benefited from having more choices while he was growing up in foster homes, he said.

“I’m on your side,” he told Fossel.

A charter school could help keep families in Wiscasset along with their property and excise taxes and other income for the town, Craig said.

Stover and Wiscasset resident Desiree Bailey said they would want more information on the school including how it would meet costs. Fossel did not cite a funding plan but said 11 of the 12 nonprofits he serves on in Lincoln County are in the black.

Bailey has approached Wiscasset selectmen about wanting to buy the former primary school property; the proposed charter school’s letter of intent to the state lists that location for the school.

Other scenarios would include using space at the middle high school or using the Morris Farm’s educational center, Fossel said. Morris Farm, where he is co-president, is serving as the school’s fiscal agent while the school awaits nonprofit status and its own board, organizers have said.

Bailey said she is still exploring getting the primary school but is also open to either expanding her Gardiner Road salon or finding another way to offer education along with salon services.

In a brief interview later, Fossel said he thought the discussion went pretty well. “These guys asked hard questions, and they should,” he said.

Sheepscot Bay Charter School’s application is due in to the state by 5 p.m. on Sept. 1, Head of School Sarah Ricker said.