Ludlow debates withdrawal plan

Houlton Pioneer Times photo/Joseph Cyr
FIELDING QUESTIONS — Superintendents Robert McDaniel, left, of SAD 70 and Mike Hammer of SAD 29 field questions Oct. 16 from Ludlow residents.
By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
    LUDLOW — The town is once again exploring the concept of withdrawing from the SAD 70 school system.
    A public hearing on the withdrawal was held Oct. 16 at the Ludlow Town Office with about 20 residents attending, along with selectmen Virginia McCann and Donna Austin; Town Manager Diane Hines; SAD 29 Superintendent Mike Hammer; and SAD 70 Superintendent Robert McDaniel.
    Since the town received a formal petition, selectmen were required to place the question on a public referendum. That vote will take place during the Nov. 6 election, when voters will be asked: “Do you favor filing a petition for withdrawal with the Board of Directors of regional school unit SAD 70 and with the Commissioner of Education, authorizing the withdrawal committee to expend $750 for legal costs and authorizing the municipal officer to issue notes in the name of Ludlow or otherwise pledge the credit of Ludlow in an amount not to exceed $3,500 for legal costs for this purpose.”
    Thus far, the town has already spent $70 on legal fees for the withdrawal study.
    If the measure passes on the November ballot, the town would have to form a reorganization committee and negotiate the terms of its withdrawal within 90 days. That committee must include one selectman, one member of the general public, one individual who signed the petition and one school board member. Ludlow only has one school board member, Dave Stevens.
    The agreement must provide that the withdrawal take effect at the end of the school’s fiscal year. Another public hearing would need to be held to discuss the benefits of the withdrawal agreement. After that, another referendum vote for Ludlow would take place. A two-thirds majority vote would be needed in order for the change to be finalized.
    If that vote passes, SAD 29 would also have to have a referendum from its supporting towns to accept Ludlow into its ranks. If SAD 29 residents vote not to accept Ludlow, the town could become a stand-alone entity or parents could tuition their children to whichever school district they wished.
    This past March, Ludlow initiated the withdrawal process by a referendum vote of 67-36. A committee was created to formulate the town’s withdrawal and a plan was then sent to the state’s Department of Education.
    Education Commissioner Stephen Bowen signed off on the plan, but when a discrepancy in the original petition was reported, the entire process was nullified.
    To initiate a withdrawal process, a petition bearing the signatures of at least 10 percent of registered voters from the last gubernatorial election must be submitted. Ludlow submitted a petition bearing the names of 13 residents asking for the process to move ahead, which was 10 percent of those who voted in the last regular election in 2011. A total of 101 residents voted last November.
    The last gubernatorial election, however, occurred in 2010 with 157 residents castings ballots. Therefore, the petition submitted to the state needed to have at least 16 signatures, three more than what was submitted.
    Even though Commissioner Bowen sent a letter to the town giving his consent for the withdrawal to move forward, the entire process had to begin anew because of the discrepancy, said Hines.
    During the Oct. 16 hearing, residents posed multiple questions to the two superintendents. Many of those questions focused on the financial side of providing education — primarily the per pupil cost of educating students.
    Based on figures found on the state’s Department of Education website, the cost to educate an elementary student in SAD 70 was $8,378 for the 2011-12 school year. For the same year in SAD 29, the cost was $6,700. The cost for high school students was $14,454 in SAD 70, compared to $9,804 in SAD 29.
    Figures for the 2011-12 and 2012-13 school year were not readily available, but both superintendents stated those numbers were probably higher than they were in 2010-11.
Houlton Pioneer Times photo/Joseph Cyr
LISTENING INTENTLY — Mary Harbison, right, principal of Hodgdon High School, and Katrina Carmichael with her son Joseph listen to information presented Oct. 16 at the Ludlow Town Office during a public hearing on the proposed withdrawal plan. About 20 residents and school officials attended the meeting.
    Resident Dave Berube asked Hammer how much money his district has in surplus and what projects might be in the works for SAD 29 in the near future, which could result in an increased cost to taxpayers.
    “There is this money in our district that is a surplus,” Hammer said. “That was money set aside through the balance forward. Also, the district once raised an additional mil for renovations for different buildings. People love to think we have $3 million (in surplus). It’s not.”
    Hammer said SAD 29 has used money from the surplus account in recent years so that “additional local” dollars did not need to be raised to balance the budget.
    As for work needing to be done to existing buildings, Hammer said Houlton Elementary School may need some renovation work in the near future.
    “We will try to keep our budget down as much as possible from now on to avoid additional local expenses,” Hammer said. “I see our budget staying where it is at for the next couple years if at all possible. We are trying not to have any additional local next year.”
    Each year, school districts receive a sum of money from the state for education. In order to receive those funds, towns must come up with a “required local” dollars. Those two figures make up how much the state feels a district should spend on education. However, many school districts spend above this amount, which creates a need for “additional local” dollars to balance their budgets.
    One resident stated those circulating the petition told residents the town would save $78,000 by switching to SAD 29. Hines said that dollar amount was provided by former SAD 29 interim Superintendent Ray Freve during one of the introductory meetings. That figure proved to be incorrect upon further examination of the two budgets.
    Based on the current figures, by making the switch to SAD 29, Ludlow costs for education would drop by $43,000. That figure changes from year to year, however, based on how much money each district spends. There are about 300 taxpayers in the town.
    “Why is this all down to the dollar?” asked resident Katrina Carmichael. “For me, it’s about what is best for my child.”
    Total enrollment in SAD 70 is about 500 students, McDaniel said, while he estimated SAD 29’s figure to be about 1,500.
    There are 44 students from Ludlow currently enrolled in SAD 70. According to Hines there are 82 school-aged children in the town. Some of those children are home-schooled, while others attend Greater Houlton Christian Academy. Eleven students are already attending SAD 29 as part of a “superintendent’s agreement” between SAD 29 and SAD 70.
    Both McDaniel and Hammer said they would continue with superintendent agreements regardless of the outcome of the withdrawal process.
    Resident Michelle Barrows stated her daughter was denied a request to remain in the Houlton school system after her family moved to Ludlow.
    “We did a letter requesting to let her stay in Houlton and it was denied by Hodgdon,” she said. “It took three years before she was finally allowed to go back to Houlton.”
    McDaniel said SAD 70’s stance is now not to deny such requests, as the district wants students to attend the school where they feel the most comfortable.
    Berube asked if SAD 29’s buildings and staff could accommodate an influx of Ludlow students. Hammer stated the district would be able to absorb the students without the need of adding mobile classrooms to existing school buildings.
    Berube asked if any survey of SAD 70 students or Ludlow parents had been taken to see what percentage of students want to go to SAD 29 and how many want to stay where they are. McDaniel stated he did not believe any such survey has been taken.
    “I think about what’s best for the kids first and not tax dollars,” said Hammer. “Your students need to be in the school where they feel the most comfortable. That is where you folks ought to be at.”
    Brandy Peabody asked both superintendents for data that showed how many incidents of bullying, sexual harassment and drug cases were noted in each of the two school districts. McDaniel said there had been three bullying cases, eight fighting incidents, two cases involving harassment and no drug cases.
    Hammer said he was not willing to give out specific numbers of incidents because he felt it could violate student confidentiality. He did acknowledge that SAD 29’s number were likely higher than SAD 70’s due to the simple fact that they have more students.