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STRONG – MSAD 58 school board directors held another community meeting Thursday evening, seeking input into the ongoing debate about the future of the district.
Another, similar meeting is scheduled next month for the town of Phillips, rounding out the board’s circuit. After that, Board Chair Judy Dill, of Kingfield, has asked directors to bring three or four plans to the January meeting. Out of those plans, Dill said she wanted to see three or four go to the superintendent’s office for financial analysis. A final decision, Dill said Thursday evening, would likely come out of that process.
In the past 10 years, the total number of students educated at MSAD 58 schools decreased from 1,015 to 837. During that same time period, the state’s valuation figures for the district’s towns jumped from $222,425,000 to $448,900,000. Increases in valuation place larger portions on school budgets on the local tax base, and each student lost equates to $4,697 in lost state subsidy. Compared to the 2009-2010 school year, 26 fewer students are attending MSAD 58 schools, resulting in $122,122 in fewer subsidy dollars from the state.
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Another financial element is causing internal cost shifts within the district. Eustis hit its contribution cap last year, due to a low student population, and paid $232,997 less as a result. That has shifted the contribution burden to other towns; notably, Phillips’ total local allocation rose to $738,739, a 15 percent increase, while Strong’s rose by a similar degree.
The increased stress upon the tax base and fewer children in the classroom has sparked an emotional debate on the future of the district. Ideas have ranged from a single, large facility to independent high schools, from tuitioning students into surrounding districts to merging grade levels, and everything in between.
At previous meetings, two central arguments have developed; that schools are irreplaceable pieces of their communities and should not be closed, and that taxpayers simply shouldn’t be asked to pay any more. In Kingfield, another major theme was voiced by residents approaching the microphone: do something.
Strong resident Perry Ellsworth, who sat on the board years ago, said that the board needed to take some action, rather than endlessly debate difficult choices.
“It is time to get out of the abyss of excuses and take action,” he said. “Doing nothing is going to create more problems than doing something.”
Directors noted that the process was difficult, complex and, perhaps most significantly, emotionally-charged. Director Gerald “Mike” Pond, of Strong, pointed to the gathering of data and the architecture study for Mt. Abram High School as significant developments.
Generally, residents in Strong were in favor of keeping students in the district, whatever school buildings remained open.
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“I don’t care about buildings,” parent Darren Allen told the board, “I care about K through 12.”
Board directors also touched upon ongoing discussions with MSAD 74 regarding the formation of an Alternate Organization Structure, which would effectively combine some of the districts’ central office functions with an eye toward future savings. An AOS would be governed by a group of directors from both districts, which would approve and oversee a budget for a single central office.
Directors are not entirely in agreement about AOS proposal either. Some believe it is a “no-brainer,” with some short-term savings in personnel costs and the retention of the consolidation penalty money. Others are concerned about the loss of absolute local control over the superintendent and central office, and want to see more information regarding future savings.
The board will meet with residents in Phillips in December.
Unfortunately, I could not attend the meeting in Strong this evening. But, I do have a few questions for the MSAD 58 board (not Mr Clark) to respond to.
Forgetting the legislation our former governor introduced, his own spouse being a teacher, and himself counting votes for re-election, which resulted in a statutory minimum teacher salary of $30,000 per year, which in turn resulted in close to a million dollar budget increase for MSAD 58.
Why hasn’t the staff decreased by a number proportional to the students? Many years ago, when I was a member of the board that had the intestinal fortitude to look forward, a policy was adopted requiring an18:1 student to teacher ratio at Mt. Abram High School. Has the current board chosen to ignore policy or did a previous board choose to recind it? At today’s rate, fifteen teaching positions, when you include the benefits, equates to almost a million dollars to the taxpayers.
Why, when the former education commissioner refused to consider a consolidation waiver to a district, that by the law that was signed by the Governor, clearly met the criteria for the waiver, did the majority of the board not support our superintendant in his fight against Augusta?
When is the MSAD 58 School Board going to realize that people in Augusta, that set so called “educational policy” for the State of Maine, are far more concerned about their own job and paycheck then they are about the future of our children and their education?
Scott Dyar
For the amount of education that this state requires teachers to have and maintain, $30,000 a year salary is an insult. When are we, as a society, going to put teachers up on the pedestal they belong on.
As a former teacher, we don’t belong on a pedestal, but we do deserve the same respect people give their local bartender.
Everyone shrieks that teachers must be the best, but what college chemistry student in his right mind would pass up a degree in chemical engineering to teach high school chem and be required to hold a masters degree to earn much less money.
It is nice to see that a few people are more concerned with education – not just taxes.
Yes, I’m a taxpayer on a fixed income too and its not teacher retirement. I got out before I was vested to take a job higher in the food chain. i bought a convenience store. The kids were great. I couldn’t stand dealing with taxpayers who considered the school a day care.
I think that a bartender does make more than 30k a year. Keep in mind, this is the minimum requirement for teachers.
I agree with looking at the ratio of students to teachers holding onto the variable of federal requirements imposed on schools to meet certian benchmarks. If these benchmarks demand more teachers to satisfy these requirements, what are we to do? It seems to be a very complicated issue. You can make some of the people happy some of the time, but not all the people all of the time. Maybe it is time to decide what we are willing to give up and what we are not. It sounds like this work is being done. I appreciate the effort to extend the invitation to the community for input. This style of leadership is exhausting yet necessary.
We can consolidate from within without selling the “farm”. Since when is a 40 year old structure “aging”? Move the 7 and 8th graders to Mt Abram to save some money. MTA is the districts best and biggest facility. It can handle all of the aspects of being a 7-12 grade school with. This option is NOT being talked about by our superintendent. It needs to be.