Wiscasset Partners in Education secretary and past school committee candidate Danielle Clarke has made the committee. In a 3-1 vote Sept. 15, the committee named Clarke to fill the seat Jonathan Barnes left. The term runs out in June.

The committee considered Clarke, Kyle Canada and past school committee candidate Richard Lutes after giving residents a week to offer to fill the vacancy. Committee members cited each respondent’s strengths. And Lutes differed with some members’ view on one thing Clarke and Canada have in common: Both have children in the school system. 

That could give a committee member “potentially an emotional bias to avoid massive cuts,” Lutes said. “Sometimes it needs to be looked at from an outside perspective, of what’s good for the town, and what’s good for the students.”

Only Lutes attended the meeting in Wiscasset Middle High School’s library. Chair Tracey Whitney read statements from Clarke and Canada. Vice Chair John Merry questioned Lutes and thanked him for coming. “That means a lot to me, personally,” Merry said.

According to Lutes' comments that night, Wiscasset Newspaper files and his Sept. 14 letter of interest he later posted on Facebook, Lutes served in the Air Force and has been a state government systems architect, a chief technology officer and a field service engineer, all involving multi-million-dollar operations, and is a former Registered Maine Guide evaluator. 

Saying Lutes has “a vast array of knowledge,” Merry asked if he agreed with him that Wiscasset’s test scores and the “level of learning” need raising and that staffing needs to fit enrollment.

He does, Lutes said. Merry noted Lutes’ letter spoke of right-sizing the district, building a plan and making large cuts if necessary. 

Merry asked him to expand on those points. Lutes said it wouldn’t be fair to the other two seeking the interim seat. 

“Well, it’s not unfair, because they’re not here to answer the questions,” Merry said. 

Lutes then shared, he was the “first Lutes to graduate from this school.” His family came here in 1971 after his father, who served in Special Forces, came back from Vietnam.

The school is not what it once was, “and we need to start cutting, and making it painful,” Lutes said. “We can’t keep trying to reinvent the wheel, trying to keep everything in place to support a school system that has 360, roughly, students. Whether or not it’s adding another wing on this (school) or on (Wiscasset Elementary School), we need to get rid of one.”

He told the committee, Wiscasset can’t attract new residents if it costs too much to live there. Without more housing that’s affordable, he expects no enrollment increase that would warrant two schools, Lutes said. 

Merry also asked how to up enrollment.

Affordable housing or getting other towns’ students back, which would be hard given Wiscasset’s performance level, Lutes said.  

“He’s 100% right,” member Doug Merrill said.

Canada wrote, he had a “genuine interest in this position.” He and everyone in his family went through this school system, he said. “And I would like to see (it) thrive again, like it once did."

Canada noted his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice administration and his service in the Marine Corps and in the Air Force Reserves; having been a sergeant at Two Bridges Regional Jail in Wiscasset, then working for Alternative Organizational Structure 98, and now being a Lincoln County sheriff’s deputy. 

“Through these experiences, I believe that I would be beneficial to the board,” Canada wrote. 

Merry said Canada’s experience directing safety, security and transportation in AOS 98 is “pretty important” and could be of value to the committee when things happen. Knowing how a school district works day to day helps, versus coming in off the street, Merry said. Merrill agreed, saying, “We need somebody here that understands how this all functions.” 

Whitney said she liked that Canada has young children. “So he definitely is interested in what is best for our school.” 

Clarke wrote, “Being a good leader isn’t just about how much you know. Policy can be learned. What matters just as much is how you treat others. As a parent I believe kindness, humility, honesty and the ability to work together are what make someone a strong leader. 

“Those are the qualities I want representing our kids, our families and our community,” Clarke wrote. 

Member Christopher Hart said he advocated very much for Clarke due to her PIE work, accounting experience, having children in the system and having garnered more than 400 votes in last June’s election. That speaks volumes, he said. (Clarke lost a two-way race with Merry for school committee, with 431 votes to his 558, according to Wiscasset Newspaper files.)

Whitney added, Clarke had also offered to fill Victoria Hugo-Vidal’s unexpired term earlier this year, when the committee instead went with Brycson Grover.

"She did put herself out there (for that) and then she took out papers and ran” for the seat in June, Whitney said. “And I think that speaks volumes as well, to her commitment to wanting to do this, the fact that she’s stepped up again.”

Hart nominated Clarke; Merrill seconded. They and Whitney voted her in; Merry dissented. And Whitney urged Lutes to come to committee meetings "and be a voice for the people!"

"I will be a voice. You will hear me, loud and clear," Lutes said.