MOUNT VERNON — Regional School Unit 38 board members will listen to feedback about restructuring the district at a second forum Wednesday night.

Board chairwoman Lynette Johnson, who also was part of the restructuring committee that considered various options, said board members have not settled on one.

“I think a lot of people in the community are raising good issues, good questions about the different restructuring scenarios that are being presented,” Johnson said. “We certainly want to hear people’s concerns and questions.”

The forum is scheduled for 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Mount Vernon Elementary School. It will have a format similar to the first one, at which Johnson gave a presentation about the district’s situation, then took questions from the audience.

People who spoke almost uniformly opposed the plan the restructuring committee recommended, which places all students in grades 3-5 at Readfield Elementary School and divides the pre-K through grade 2 students among the schools in Manchester, Mount Vernon and Wayne.

The change could save $200,000 next year through the elimination of teaching positions and the restructuring committee said it would provide educational benefits.

RSU 38’s budget is $15 million this year.

Written comments submitted to the board before and after the first forum echoed many of the questions and complaints raised there.

Multiple writers endorsed either moving Readfield elementary students into the middle school building or disbanding the middle school, sending sixth graders to the middle school and grades 7-8 to the high school.

Test scores show the middle school is the troubled part of the system, people wrote, and it appears to be causing some people to withdraw their students for homeschooling or private schools.

“Please put efforts into fixing the middle school and leave the elementary schools alone,” Ann Marie Jenkins wrote. “Less students would leave the district.”

Several people asked for more information about financial savings, transportation and empirical studies into configurations that produce the best results.

Wayne parent Jeffrey LaPlante said board members are dismissing research that shows positive effects for K-8 schools.

“All of you are just acting like politicians trying to force feed us a unpopular idea,” he wrote. “You will spin the data any way you need to accomplish your goals.”

LaPlante said he would withdraw his two children from the district if the recommended plan is implemented.

Other people said they would prefer budget cuts, including those that would create larger classes, to maintain the existing configuration.

Manchester parent Bonnie Simcock said the district should focus more on what happens inside its schools.

“I believe professional development, curriculum strengthening and parental involvement will make more academic and financial impact,” she wrote.

The board may vote on a plan at January’s meeting, Johnson said.

Susan McMillan — 621-5645

smcmillan@mainetoday.com