I know you’re going to be shocked — shocked! — but you’ll hear it soon enough, so we might as well get it over with.

Some people are talking about closing schools.

Yes, I know that school consolidation “is not about closing schools.”  Yes, we know that there are protections against immediate school closings.

Nevertheless, as Matthew Stone aptly sums it up, closings are in the air:

As some see it, a number of forces are stoking fears about school closures:

1. The coming budget season.
2. Shrinking student numbers.
3. School district consolidation.

Those forces have all been on display this week in central Maine.

Education Commissioner Susan Gendron on Monday told superintendents she needs to find ways to cut nearly $55 million from the Department of Education budget. The deadline for submitting those recommendations for cuts was today.

Anticipating a drop in state subsidy as a result, Augusta schools Superintendent Cornelia Brown opened discussions last night about closing either Hussey Elementary School or Hodgkins Middle School.

Next week, the Gardiner-based School Administrative District 11 board will consider closing Hamlin Elementary School in Randolph or the district’s central office in Gardiner.

So we have a (sorry for the trite phrase!) perfect storm of revenues and budgets gone south combined with consolidation pressures (including top-down mandated cuts in administration, transportation, special education, and so on).

And in the new RSUs, the question will be:  Who will be able to get along and not close schools?