By Theron Larkins
Staff Writer
The joint committee of School Union 122 met Monday for their regular meeting. The joint committee, made up of members representing Woodland, New Sweden and Westmanland met in the Woodland Consolidated School’s library, where some important matters on the agenda were addressed.
The overwhelming issue brought to the table was no surprise, as financial concerns continue to plague many area schools. In northern Maine, where this is especially true, school committees like Union 122 are being faced with more and more challenges regarding the union’s budget, as well as state funding, or lack thereof, which is tying the hands of even those schools that have chosen to consolidate like Union 122.
“We’re struggling to buy textbooks. We’re struggling to buy supplies. Here we are in the second week of February and I still don’t know what the state is going to give us for money and I probably won’t know until May.” said Superintendent Roland Caron. “Yet, as a board we’re still expected to make real decisions about the budget, about curriculum and an assorted number of other important things that we’ve got to really think outside the box about.”
According to Caron there won’t be any bailouts from the state when it comes to education. Caron went on to stress just how important this idea of thinking outside the box is one the committee may have to start seriously thinking about. The mention of how so many small schools have already been forced to close their doors due to a lack of funds was enough to place an apparent fear in the eyes of some members. This prompted committee member Nancy Holmquist, to voice her concerns parallel with those of Supt. Caron. Holmquist is also a member of the executive committee, whose latest meeting caused her to re-think the committee’s current system.
“The executive committee had a meeting a week or so ago, and after I left that meeting I really began to think that we do need to change how we do things. The funding is less and less every year. We’ve made cuts in both Woodland and New Sweden, until we have nothing left to cut,” said Holmquist. “I know neither school wants to close, but I think we’re at a point in which ‘business as usual’ isn’t going to work for us anymore.”
Holmquist admitted she too has yet to find an answer to the growing problem. She expressed her appreciation for Supt. Caron bringing the issue to the table and concluded by acknowledging that they will have to find better and more effective ways to save money if they hope to continue to function as a union.
“If we’re not going to get any more money, how can we use the money we’re getting to maximize the educational benefits?” asked Caron. “I don’t have the answers. I have the questions. I’m challenging you as a board, and we’re not going to solve this tonight, but we’re talking about getting together and thinking like a union. This is about putting your union hat on.”
Caron challenged directors to put aside personalities and come together as a union to help all three towns solve the serious issues they currently face.
“It can’t be about only the Woodland School or the New Sweden School, but it’s about looking at this from a standpoint of, how this union can do the best possible job of maximizing the educational benefits for the students.”
Holmquist pointed out certain places where both the schools and the union had dropped the ball, or in this case books.
“I went in to look at curriculum with teachers from Woodland and we began looking into buying books that we hadn’t updated for 25 years,” said Anderson. “It just doesn’t make sense. We’re trying to educate our kids and one of the most important parts of education is books and we realized we didn’t have enough money to buy them.”
Holmquist also conveyed to her fellow members the anxiety she felt when contemplating going to the town for more money.
“I think with both Woodland and New Sweden that’s been a real challenge. It’s not that they don’t want to support us, but I think there are some in the community who feel they can’t afford to pay any more than they’re already paying.”
The money woes facing small schools like those consolidated by School Union 122 cannot be solved by going directly at the funding. This was something union members were fully aware of Monday, as the meeting quickly transferred focus from the lack of money to the solutions that may someday remedy the threat of financial downsizing that teachers and staff consistently face.
One of the earlier topics on the agenda involved the 2014-15 projected enrollment totals for the schools made a return to the forefront of discussion, as Supt. Caron proposed what he called the “wild” possibility of turning the New Sweden School into a high school. This would, in turn, force the younger students to combine, but in Caron’s opinion, the proposal is manageable.
“There are high schools out there that are all right with only around 60 students. We would be running with approximately 89 students,” said Caron. “I’m just seeding that idea. I don’t necessarily think that’s the best idea yet, but I want us to start thinking about these different possibilities.”
According to Caron this wasn’t a foreign topic for the union, but one that has been discussed numerous times. Most years enrollment is so low at small schools in areas like Woodland or New Sweden there is too often the issue of teachers not having enough students to conduct a normal class. Therefore, the solution would appear to be another consolidation, only on a smaller scale.
“We’ve talked about it before. I think all the boards have talked about the idea. If you have one or two students in a classroom and they’re all by themselves, is that the best education or environment for them?” asked Caron. “Presque Isle used the same method and it worked. They sized up the classes, so it would better suit the needs of the kids. It’s all about the kids, first. Of course, we care about our staff, but the primary objective is the kids.”
Board Chair, Pat Anderson of Westmanland, immediately pointed out that there is a social aspect to this problem of low enrollment that may be frequently overlooked.
“It’s a social problem, too. When you have a classroom with only four students those kids aren’t learning social skills or becoming socially adaptable,” said Anderson.
The problem that arises from upping classroom sizes is the fact that students may have to change schools. For one town, or one set of parents, this will often cause a problem. Union 122 member, Wanda Anderson, from Woodland, admitted she’s heard from parents who become disgruntled at even the thought of having to drive to another town for school.
“We’ve heard that in Woodland. Some parents on the other side of town claim that if they’re going to have to send their kids that far than they might as well send them to Caribou,” she said.
Supt. Caron suggested a less painful way to make the combination work.
“If I was going to keep certain grades I would want the primary grades. Kids would be coming through their community school for the formative years of their education and then in either third or fourth grade, wherever we decided to make that cut, then you could start mixing the different schools,” said Caron.
The projected 2014-15 student enrollment totals for School Union 122 shows an estimated 191 students attending the three schools from pre-K to grade 8. As for grades 9-12 the projection only anticipates 60 students.
Supt. Caron continued to impress upon the union why the upside of combining classes would be beneficial over time, and not solely financially.
“We don’t have to do this now. It’s just to plant some seeds for something to think about,” said Caron. “In the long-run, it’s through attrition that you might be able to maximize the benefit without hurting teachers, because we wouldn’t really be laying teachers off. We’d just be re-shuffling the positions, while maintaining a high quality educational program. At the same time, it would free people up to do things like accrue textbooks, which we don’t have the money to do at the moment.”
In an attempt to come up with more cost-saving ideas the committee made the decision to create two new subcommittees. The first would be tasked with not only originating ideas, but presenting them to the community, as well. The second subcommittee was designed for policy making. Once named, the two subsets of Union 122 will be working in the near future to make progress in budget cuts, as well as creating a quicker and more effective policy-making process.
Next on the agenda was addressing the issue of hiring a new Superintendent to replace Caron, who has generously decided to postpone his departure to help the union during the strenuous hiring process.
“We did speak with one person about the job already, but unfortunately it just wasn’t good timing for that person,” said Pat Anderson. “Another person who we are speaking with currently probably won’t make a decision for a few months, as to whether there is even an interest. Still, that issue is certainly not on the back burner.”
The union, Anderson explained, is actively searching to fill the difficult role. She assured the members that “feelers” are out there and she hopes to have something solid to report sometime in April.
The next regular meeting of School Union 122 will be held on Thursday, Apr. 3, at 6:30 in Westmanland.
