Vassalboro resident asks for action on after school traffic

Vassalboro Community School (contributed photo)

by Mary Grow

Resident Albert Ferland was welcomed at the June 11 Vassalboro School Board meeting, as he urged board members and school administrators to do something about the traffic congestion weekday afternoons when parents come to pick up their children at Vassalboro Community School.

Board members and school officials have been concerned about the on-going safety issue, as parents meeting their children mingle with motorists trying to get through the intersection of Bog and Webber Pond roads. Ferland pointed out that when cars idle to keep occupants warm in winter, often for half an hour or more, the exhaust fumes get sucked into the school’s ventilation system.

Superintendent Alan Pfeiffer and board members are consulting with local officials and experts. Earlier this year, Pfeiffer said, a tentative plan for more off-road parking had the school grounds festooned with surveyors’ tape. That plan has been abandoned, but adding parking on school grounds remains an option.

In addition to physical rearrangements, they’re considering school schedule changes; changes in school bus schedules and/or routes; and signage. They chuckled at, and did not dismiss, Ferland’s suggestion of a congestion toll. “Revenue,” Pfeiffer said.

The main other business June 11 was the budget, for this year and next. Board members formally accepted the $10,414,498.24 budget for 2025-26 that voters approved at the annual town meeting.

Pfeiffer reported for Finance Director Paula Pooler that the current year’s budget still appears likely to end in the black on June 30, although keeping it balanced will require using a “pretty hefty” share of the allocated amount from the school’s undesignated fund balance. He commended Pooler and the business office staff for their hard work preparing a new budget while managing a current one.

Looking at the calendar for the next academic year, board members decided to continue to meet the second Tuesday evening of the month, with any meeting that conflicts with a holiday – like Armistice Day, Nov. 11, 2025 – moved to the second Wednesday.

Board members will not meet in July. To accommodate summer schedules, their August meeting is scheduled for Wednesday evening, Aug. 20, preceded by a 5 p.m. workshop.