As a mother, businessperson and community member I am writing to support a new Camden Rockport Middle School.

I was very concerned by what I saw on a tour; the aging infrastructure and physical plant, as well as poorly designed, sprawling hallways. I read the architectural engineers' report and the letter from local engineer Will Gartley - they all conclude that it is time for a new school. I also found the letters from former students recalling how bad it was 20 years ago, particularly compelling. And I've heard many stories from other parents about bucket lined hallways, over and under-heated classrooms, and lengthy transition times. Then this spring the school had to be closed for two days because of toxic fumes from a fuel leak. I would have been distraught if my kids were in the school.

In addition to the poor state of the school, the actual layout is haphazard at best, and at worst it completely alienates students with disabilities. My father was blind and he could not have navigated through the jumbled layout to visit his grandson in his classroom. It's embarrassing that our community cannot better accommodate students, teachers, or community members with disabilities.

We are very fortunate to live in a vibrant community, but we need structures that will sustain and support the community and facilitate future growth. I understand there is a very real cost to building a new school. But I also realize it will take cost us substantially either way. The alternative is to "invest" over $16million to "fix" the physical issues, but we will still need a new building only 20 years from now. That does not seem to make good sense to me.

Our beautiful high school still feels new and it's almost 20 years old – so if we build now, in 20 years it will still feel like we have a new school. If we don't build a new school, we will absolutely need a new school in 20 years. By then, one can only speculate how much more expensive a new school will be, interest rates will certainly be higher and the taxpayers will have to shoulder all of this on top of the $16 million we will have already spent. We should stop wasting money on the old school.

During the tour, I was so impressed by the energy the current middle school students have infused into the aged and deteriorating building. Can you imagine what they can do in a new school? The new design aims to function better for the needs of our middle school students. All the academics will be centralized into a single wing, better enabling collaborative learning. Research shows that this age group learns better from peers in collaborative learning, than they do from traditional teacher-led instruction. Middle school is a difficult time; our students deserve a building that helps them excel, not a building that is an impediment.

Yes, I'd like to see a creative use for the MET building, and I thank Maria Libby and the School Board for allowing us to revisit that as a community. We now have time to work together to figure out the best solution for this historic building. But most importantly, I want us to provide the best education that we can.

Our children, community, and teachers deserve a new school and delaying this decision will only prolong the issue and cost taxpayers more money as we pay for repairs, studies and eventually a new school. A new school is needed now and just makes sense.

Diana DeGrosseilliers Castle lives in Rockport.