A Midcoast school district is closing two elementary schools in the next school year, citing aging buildings, low student population and other financial priorities.

Walker Elementary School in Liberty and Morse Memorial School in Brooks will close at the end of this school year.

Eleanor Hess, chairperson of the school board for Unity-based RSU 3, announced on the district’s website this week that the schools would be closing.

“The board studied the situation in depth and came to this conclusion which is to place budgetary priorities towards the support of educational programs over the support of the operational costs of these two aging buildings,” Hess wrote.

Hess described the student populations of both schools as small, with 91 attending at Morse and 45 at Walker.

Most of those students, Hess said, will transfer to Mount View Elementary School in Thorndike. Brooks is about 10 miles away from Thorndike, Liberty is about 16 miles away. 

She said the school should be able to create space for six extra classes while still maintaining small class sizes overall.  

Some students, she said, may transfer to Monroe Elementary School in Monroe. 

RSU 3 serves 11 communities.  

According to the district’s website, it manages six elementary schools, including Walker and Morse, along with Waldo County Technical Center and Mount View middle and high schools.