HOULTON, Maine — A restructuring plan for RSU 29 met with intense scrutiny Monday evening by board members, staff and the general public.
The plan, which would have moved sixth-graders from Houlton Southside School to Houlton Junior High School, and third-graders from Houlton Elementary to Southside was ultimately voted down, albeit by a slim 5-6 vote.
Board members Sandra Wilkins, Jim Quirk, Jennifer Johnston, Lori Holmes and Rosa McNally voted in favor of the plan, while members Tammy Goetsch, John Tribou, Jeremiah Crockett, Sandra Henderson, Liz Anderson and Fred Grant opposed the measure.
As presented by Superintendent Mike Hammer, the restructuring plan was offered as an alternative for the district in its plan to lease two modular buildings at the elementary school. The modular classrooms are needed because of the district’s decision to close Wellington Elementary School in Monticello at the end of the current year as a cost-savings measure. An increased number of pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students projected at HES next fall is another driving factor.
If the district were to move the sixth- and third-grade classes, Hammer said there would be no need to pursue modular buildings at the elementary school.
“My goal is to create a middle school program for grades six through eight to be housed under one roof,” said Hammer, reading from a written proposal. “Although a junior high school approach is what many schools began years ago, we now know much more about the physical and emotional development of pre-adolescence students which is reflected in the practices of middle schools.”
Hammer added he felt the restructuring would be better for the district in the long run, instead of leasing modular classrooms at the elementary school.
“We have talked about the benefits of the program and teachers, administration and the board have all agreed that it is a change that needs to happen,” Hammer said. “Until just recently, I believed that this option was not possible to achieve due to our building configuration. Fortunately, due to recent changes, we now have enough space available within our Bird Street facility to accommodate a true middle school experience.”
Hammer added he felt there was sufficient time before the start of the 2014-15 school year to make the change.
Many board members expressed concerns with the restructuring plan, stating it was being proposed too late in the school year to successfully put into place by next fall.
Hammer explained that the idea came about a few weeks ago, when in the planning for next fall the district learned it would have two empty classrooms in the “junior high wing” due to positions not being filled by budget cuts. Hammer said he then started looking at whether it was possible to free up three more classrooms to accommodate all of the incoming sixth-graders.
Several board members disputed that the group had agreed the change needed to take place and questioned the timeline, while others agreed that the shift could be good for the district in the long run.
“This seems like it is happening really quickly,” Goetsch said. “I think we need to spend more time in the preparation of this.”
Hammer said he had discussed the restructuring concept with administrators and staff for several weeks and that the district’s facilities committee had also been involved. Goetsch countered that she was on the facilities committee, but had no recollection of the district discussing a change of this magnitude.
“It seems to be happening very fast,” Crockett said. “The last two weeks are the first that I have heard of this. I am not part of the facilities committee, so this is a lot to digest in a short period of time. The safety of the kids, in my mind, is paramount. I don’t want to put anybody’s child in harm’s way.”
Crockett added that he understood the thinking behind the plan and agreed with the fundamental concept.
“This makes sense on so many levels,” he said. “If we had a separate building (for middle school), I don’t think we would be having this conversation.”
The board shifted from its normal stance of not allowing public comments at its meeting and agreed to open the discussion to the approximately 50 members in the audience. The majority of those who spoke focused their thoughts on the sixth-graders, expressing major concerns at those students being in the same building as high school students.
Resident Jackie White said no matter how well the district tries to limit the amount of contact high school students had with the younger ones, interaction would still take place, which concerned her.
Hammer explained that the sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade classes would all be contained in the easterly wing at the high school, to the right of the main office and guidance department. A wall would be created to prevent high school students from entering and to minimize the amount of interaction the younger students had with the highschoolers.
The district would also rename that portion of the school as Houlton Middle School, as opposed to simply calling the entire building Houlton Junior-Senior High School. The name change, Hammer said was to show there is a complete change in philosophy regarding the middle school program.
Several Houlton Southside School teachers also attended the meeting and while they did not necessarily disagree with the restructuring concept, several felt there simply was not enough time between now and the start of the next school year to make it happen.
Postponing the change for a year could prove problematic, Hammer said, because the district would need to find some way to accommodate all of the Wellington School students at Houlton Elementary School. He added he did not want to see the district add modular classrooms for only a one-year basis.
Resident Heather Johnson said she felt like the plan was “being shoved down our throats” and that the district needed to spend at least the next school year coming up with a successful transition plan before taking the leap.
“Do what it takes to do it right,” she said. “Then we can feel confident that our kids are safe. This is such an astronomical shift. It’s not to say it’s a bad thing, we (parents) just need a transition period. And that should not be two or three weeks or a summer. Please don’t rush this. The only reason you are is because of the budget.”
Grant admitted he came into the meeting expecting to vote in favor of the restructuring plan, but after hearing the concerns expressed by the teachers at Houlton Southside School, as well as from the parents in the audience, his opinion changed.
If the RSU 29 budget failed at the polls Tuesday, however, Grant said the matter would likely be back on the table for discussion. The next regular meeting of the RSU 29 school board is tentatively scheduled for Monday, July 14, at 6 p.m. in the high school library.
