Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE – Voters rejected a referendum question last Tuesday that would have joined SAD 1, SAD 32 and the Nashville Plantation School Department into one regional school unit.
According to Gehrig Johnson, superintendent of both SAD 1 and SAD 32, the referendum was defeated in all 11 communities that comprise the three school entities.
“There are five communities that make up SAD 1, five in SAD 32 and then Nashville Plantation,” he said, “and the referendum was soundly defeated in every community. It doesn’t surprise me; the Legislature put the final say in the hands of the people – as it should be – on whether to have this consolidation or not, and the people in this area have declined it. I think the communities made a very loud statement.”
In SAD 1 towns, the measure was defeated 3,967 to 2,225. Individual community votes are as follows:
• Chapman (83 – Yes, 161 – No).
• Castle Hill (68 – Yes, 141 – No).
• Mapleton (352 – Yes, 732 – No).
• Presque Isle (1,638 – Yes, 2,791 – No).
• Westfield (84 – Yes, 142 – No).
In SAD 32, the plan was rejected 862 to 253. Community votes were:
• Ashland (143 – Yes, 479 – No).
• Masardis (39 – Yes, 108 – No).
• Oxbow (10 – Yes, 36 – No).
• Portage (47 – Yes, 198 – No).
• Garfield Plantation (14 – Yes, 41 – No).
Residents in Nashville Plantation defeated the referendum question by a vote of 21 to 4.
Overall, the referendum was rejected 4,850 (67 percent) to 2,482 (34 percent).
Johnson said SAD 1 will resubmit an alternative plan, which will be to stand alone.
“It will be very similar to the plan we submitted a year and-a-half ago, which was to continue doing what we’re doing,” he said. “With a population of over 2,000 students, we hope the Education Commissioner will reconsider letting this district stand alone since there are many, many alternative plans with smaller populations.”
SAD 32, however, could face penalties for not complying with the school reorganization law.
“The voters knew full well that they were facing a $71,000 penalty,” said Johnson, “but the feeling is so strong, they voted it by wide margins to defeat it in spite of the looming penalty.
“What SAD 32 is hoping for is that the Legislature will reconsider this law which they feel is very unfair … unfair to have the poorest communities be punished. We already have a pending freeze in state subsidy, which will hurt communities like Ashland,” he said. “To be penalized on top of that because the people want to retain their school system they feel is very unfair. We’re hoping the Legislature will see fit to remedy that situation.”
Lucy Richard, chair of the SAD 1 board of directors, and Sheila Lyons, SAD 32 chair, were both extremely pleased with the vote.
“I’m very happy. We’ve been hoping that it would get defeated,” said Richard. “We’ve always been a proponent of working in partnership to save money like with administrative costs and bussing, and we want to continue to do that.
“For everybody, it was the lack of local control,” she said. “That was the issue for us. We have a lot of board members, but they each represent a small, little piece of the SAD 1 community, and to change that format – and the same for Ashland – just seemed like it was really unfair. Schools are the center of activity in the communities, and when you start taking that pride away, it starts whittling away what Aroostook County is really about.”
Though not against the idea of consolidation, Lyons said it doesn’t make sense for SAD 32.
“I’m not against consolidation where school districts are close together and cover a fairly small number of square miles; however, when you start looking at SAD 1 and SAD 32,” she said, “there’s a lot of square miles between the communities. Those are extreme distances.
“We have done a good job in consolidating, and have done what they really were after before this ever came up,” said Lyons. “We had joined forces for our administrative operations – we share the superintendent, the director of special education, our tech person, purchasing power … all those things were done to save money.”
With a new K-12 school currently being built, Lyons said the community doesn’t want to lose its say in how that school is run.
“We have the utmost faith in Presque Isle,” she said, “but we’d like to make the decisions for our children and their education. If we consolidate, we’re only going to have one representative. We’d lose our voice.
“I’m extremely happy with the vote,” said Lyons, “and academically, I still think it’s best for our children to be right where they are.”
Lyons said though faced with a potential penalty, the district would still be ahead financially.
“What it would cost us in the difference in taxes if we consolidated – to raise our teachers’ salaries up to what Presque Isle’s are and the benefits – we’re still further ahead if we have to take the penalty,” she said. “Taking the penalty is the lesser of two evils.”
While five reorganization plans – including SAD 1/SAD 32/Nashville Plantation – were rejected by voters, Education Commissioner Susan A. Gendron said in a press release that 12 reorganization plans were approved Tuesday including plans in Androscoggin, Somerset, Penobscot, York, Cumberland, Waldo, Hancock, Penobscot, Oxford, Knox, Kennebec, and Lincoln counties. The voter-approved plans will consolidate 42 school districts into 12 reorganized units.
“This is an important step toward improving efficiency, streamlining operations, and generating savings that will help preserve quality instructional programs,” she said. “Most importantly, this is a step forward for creating educational opportunities for students.
“There is a financial imperative – made all the more apparent by the financial news of the past few weeks – to change the way we administer education,” said Gendron. “We cannot sustain the system we have in place.”
