To the editor:

Local newspapers have been flooded with letters trying to persuade Westporters to vote yes for a new middle/high school on February 27. Common to these bandwagon letters is that we seldom read about their $96,884,896 destination. They express a lot of opinion, the need for a new school, and when that $100M is mentioned, it has a 40% discount from the state for a shorter ride of $60M. But that doesn’t change authorizing  Westport to borrow $96,884,896 because the bandwagon voted for town officials to do so on January 23.

Once on this bandwagon, voters realize they’re given a prescription for a bitter pill to swallow. Somehow their destination is no longer in sight. There’s no price on their bandwagon ticket. That bitter pill has some interesting side effects.

Interest? Did the bandwagon miss the language of their Special Town Meeting motion that said any MSBA grant appropriation depends (“subject to and contingent”) on a yes vote of the town to exempt interest and principal from Proposition 2½? Interest on $97M could amount to $38M. Add them together for a total of $135M! The MSBA approved – Westport has not yet received — $37.4M, not a percentage of the total cost!

Did the bandwagon also miss the motion language that says the grant program is non-entitlement, discretionary, and based on need, as determined by the MSBA? That could mean after Westport has exhausted its $98,884,896, the MSBA, at their discretion, may kick in $37.4M – barely enough to cover the interest on the bonds.

There may be other side effects of that prescribed pill voters didn’t know about when jumping on the bandwagon. After all, there is no price on that ticket. The destination could go beyond $96,884,896 with MSBA mandates that will be Westport’s responsibility (also in the approved motion language).

No wonder there’s no dollar amount on the ballot question! If $60M is hard to swallow, $96,884,896 will choke us. And the bandwagon might not stop there. Do I need to tell you how to vote on February 27?

Marilyn Pease

Westport