SAD 70 meets with Ludlow residents, talks withdrawal plan

    HODGDON, Maine — While the town of Ludlow’s plan to withdraw from SAD 70 continues to move forward, school board officials met with parents from the community April 25 in an attempt to sway their votes on the subject.
About 50 residents and school officials attended the meeting, which was originally scheduled at the Ludlow town office, but changed to Hodgdon High School. Neither Ludlow Town Manager Diane Hines, nor any Ludlow selectmen attended the meeting.
    “I’m sorry about the change of venue,” SAD 70 board chairman Estela Lane said. “That was out of our control. We found out last week that we were not allowed to meet in Ludlow.”
Residents of Ludlow gave the go-ahead to start the withdrawal process by a referendum vote of 67-36 on March 29. A petition circulated in the community initiated the withdrawal proposal. A public hearing on the matter was also held March 19.
Lane said she received a letter from Stephen Bowen, commissioner of education, stating he gave his approval for the withdrawal process to move forward. The town must now form a reorganization committee to represent the effort and negotiate the terms of the 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 then 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.
Many of those in attendance were individuals interested in seeing their children stay in the SAD 70 district. Much of the meeting focused on the merits of SAD 70, which at times came at the expense of the SAD 29 school system.
SAD 70 Superintendent Bob McDaniel said the withdrawal shouldn’t be about which school district is better than the other.
“Both have positives and negatives that each family has to look at,” he said.
McDaniel added, in his mind, he did not see how the process could be completed before the fiscal year ends June 30.
“It’s a difficult situation to be in,” Lane said. “We are not here to denigrate any particular school. But since your town (Ludlow) is comparing (SAD 70 to SAD 29), we would like to tell you some things about our schools.
Lane said Mill Pond School “offers students and parents a caring and loving environment” where students are “nurtured and educated.”
“We’re a family,” she said. “We often hear about what a warm and loving school it is. We have a small school setting with fewer students. This allows students and staff to bond and form relationships. Our student body is known by every single staff member. Your child is not a number.”
She said 37 percent of the junior and senior class have taken early college courses to receive credit when they start their postsecondary education.
Lane added the district’s after school program was one of the best in the area, featuring state of the art courses such as Lego robotics.
“We have high test scores in NECAP and other district testing, which implies we challenge our students and encourage them to reach the heights of their capabilities,” Lane said.
Lane added from 2008 to 2011, Mill Pond School scored higher than Houlton Elementary and Houlton Southside School on the New England Common Assessment Program.
“Our growth was smaller, but that was because we started at a higher rate,” she said.
She also reminded residents that SAD 29 uses a weighted vote method for its school board, while SAD 70 does not.
“You are not going to have the same representation,” she said.
Total enrollment in SAD 70 is about 500 students, McDaniel said, while he estimated SAD 29’s figure to be about 1,200.
Resident Jack Hanson asked the school board about the number of incidents of bullying and sexual harassment cases that the district had received. Those exact figures were not readily available.
Resident Joyce Folsom asked how many students were included in the “superintendent’s agreement” that allows a student from one district to attend the other. McDaniel said the figure was “pretty even” between the two school systems. He added he has denied requests in the past because the request must be because of academic need and not convenience for a parent. McDaniel said any decision he makes could be appealed to the Commissioner of Education.
Resident Katrina Carmichael asked if SAD 70 had any issues with drugs in its high school.
McDaniel said there have not been any cases of students bringing drugs to school and added that once a year the district brings drug-sniffing canines into the building to do random searches. Those searches have not resulted in any drugs being found, he said.
By withdrawing from SAD 70, the town of Ludlow could save money on its tax bills. The town currently spends about $217,000 for its share of the SAD 70 budget. By making the switch to SAD 29, the town’s costs for education would be about $168,795, a savings of about $48,000 per year, according to Hines. That figure would change from year to year based on the SAD 29 budget.
Ludlow could also opt to become a “stand alone” community and tuition students to wherever they chose.
Several Ludlow residents expressed frustration at the meeting because their children preferred the SAD 70 system. Others stated they felt the entire issue was misrepresented as they thought they were voting on just to explore the idea of withdrawal, not go forward with the actual process.
“It sounds like these are questions you should be asking your selectmen,” said SAD 70 board member Tom Horten.