East Machias School Board Joins Selectmen in Urging Voters to Oppose Proposed School Reorganization
By Will Tuell
Downeast Coastal Press, November 11, 2008
East Machias School Board members Mike Look, Peter Rensem and Pat Callahan voted unanimously last week to join the town’s selectmen in urging residents to oppose a 12-town school reorganization plan that goes before voters in Cutler, East Machias, Jonesboro, Lubec, Machias, Machiasport, Marshfield, Northfield, Roque Bluffs, Wesley, Whiting and Whitneyville December 9.
“I'm not against consolidation,” said Callahan, “but I think what we're seeing here is that East Machias was actually ahead of the curve. There are two factors why it makes sense for consolidation. One, there's financial savings that we can easily derive. I think East Machias has done more than anybody in that area already. And No. 2 is that the students get a better education. And I think the consolidation, the way it was forced down our throat in a once-size-fits-all [fashion], just does not meet the criteria for either one of those for us.”
Callahan said that the regional planning committee (RPC) “did their job. They came up with the best that they could. However, I still can't see how we pass the initial litmus test for what I consider a true consolidation, where there's a derived benefit for the students and the taxpayers. Therefore I encourage the committee to take a bold stance against the approval of this.”
Under the plan, four towns—Cutler, Lubec, Machiasport and Whiting—will save $152,000 in school administration compared to what they are now paying, while the remaining eight—those in Union 102 and East Machias—will see no savings, and may see a slight increase in school administration.
Union 102/East Machias Superintendent Scott Porter said that by approving the alternative organizational structure (AOS), school officials in the 12 towns could not be guaranteed a “printout” from the Department of Education, a financial report that tells local officials how much state subsidy to expect annually. Towns that reject the AOS will still receive their “printout.”
“People are starting to get their minds around [the fact that] the weakness is the subsidy sharing,” said Porter. “If, in fact, she [Education Commissioner Susan Gendron] would give a printout per town and give people a way of escape if they don't like this structure, she probably would have nine AOS’s in the state, because there are nine trying. … If this [AOS] fails, she's going to have to do it anyway. She's going to have to give every town a printout.”
The school board's public stance comes a week after East Machias selectmen Kenneth “Bucket” Davis, Dale Richardson, and Bob Chase passed a similar motion at their October 30 meeting.