Dear Editor:

The cost of a four-year high school education for Boothbay and Boothbay Harbor students is now well over $100,000.  But other area towns pay only about $50,000 for each of their graduates to get the exact same diploma at BRHS.

Congratulations to all the graduates and all the dedicated teachers who help them so much along the way.

But obviously, something is terribly wrong with the cost-sharing formulas for our region’s education.

If we can’t get other towns to agree on a more equitable arrangement, perhaps now is the time for Boothbay and Boothbay Harbor to investigate other, more cost-effective alternatives than being a part of the 5-town Alternative Organizational Structure (AOS).

The current AOS tuition agreement exposes local BB-BBH taxpayers to shoulder a majority of the cost burden for all incoming students from other municipalities.

A business relationship typically only works when it benefits all parties.  If not, then something needs to change.

If we don’t soon find a better solution, then we risk potentially spending a lot of our hard-earned tax money on something that may or may not be the long-term answer – and far too much of that money will just be spent for the benefit of other towns.

Tom Perkins

Boothbay Harbor