Special to the Aroostook Republican
NEW SWEDEN — School Union 122 board members from the three communities — New Sweden, Westmanland and Woodland —met July 26 at the New Sweden School.
One of the main issues facing the board was their ongoing search for a superintendent. An executive session was held beforehand, during which Interim Superintendent Roland Caron offered to continue his role with the district until a permanent replacement is found. The motion was put before the entire board and approved unanimously.
Caron, who hails from Portage and whose full-time job is chairman of the Education Committee at University of Maine Fort Kent, replaced former Superintendent John Hedman on a part-time, temporary basis.
Caron said he is prepared for the search to take a considerable amount of time. “With 22 superintendent positions currently open in the state of Maine,” Caron said, “it’s unlikely a full-time replacement will be found soon.”
The board has advertised the position locally and with the Maine School Management Association. They have received a handful of inquiries; however, none of the applicants have had superintendent experience, so the search continues.
The biggest challenge to being the interim superintendent, Caron explained, is being able to fully meet the needs of the district. “It’s a juggling act,” he said.
Caron praised Union 122 for being “exceptional.” He said he admires the communities’ spirit and involvement, especially during these challenging years. “Times aren’t going to get any better,” Caron stated, “we’ve got to hold on to what we’ve got.”
School Union 122 will reconvene their search committee, but, in the meantime, directors expressed their overwhelming gratitude to Caron for his commitment to the schools.
Other items on the school board agenda included the approval of teacher contracts for the 2012-13 school year, with only minor changes being made to the existing contract language.
Under other business, a discussion prompted mention of the scrutiny Maine’s educational system has faced recently. This led to a debate about the issue of school consolidation, where smaller schools are being encouraged to close and join with larger school districts in an attempt to save money. The majority of those present voiced their disagreement with this trend.
Wanda Anderson, chairman of the Union 122 Board, stated, “As boards, we’re going to have to be proactive. We’re finding more and more people who don’t want to keep small schools open.”
Other directors pointed out that many troublesome issues exist with the closing of a community’s school.
Anderson expressed her belief that the cost of educating a child may simply transfer to the larger school through the tuition received from the smaller community. “If it costs $6,000 per year to educate the child here,” she questioned, “wouldn’t it be the same there? The money goes with the child.”
Board members also brought up the fact that the community would still have the maintenance costs of the abandoned school buildings and that many citizens may leave the community because of the loss of the school. They agreed that further research would have to be done on schools that have already consolidated in order to draw a definite conclusion on the cost effectiveness.
