Consolidation talk 'unconscionable,' says superintendent

At the March 7 meeting of the Eastport School Committee, Superintendent Arthur Wittine expressed his "extreme disappointment" about a meeting held recently in Baileyville to discuss the idea of consolidating the Eastport, Calais and Baileyville high schools, since the members of the school boards and the superintendents had not been told about the meeting. "It's unconscionable," he stated, saying it was equivalent to area superintendents getting together to decide how the municipalities of Calais, Eastport and Baileyville would be consolidated.

He was also disturbed that information given at the meeting by a retired university professor who is working as a consultant on consolidation is erroneous. In particular, the consultant stated incorrect figures for the per-pupil cost and the tuition cost at Shead, claiming that Eastport is subsidizing its tuition students. In fact, the 2004-05 per-pupil cost and tuition rate at Shead are nearly the same, so there is no subsidizing of tuition students.
Concerning the consolidation discussion, Wittine noted that last year he had calculated that an additional $130,000 would have to be raised locally in taxes if Shead was closed.

Also, Wittine took issue with the proposal made by the consultant that eliminating one or two of the superintendents in the three school districts would save money. "I'm putting in 50 or 60 hours a week, not counting Sundays," he said. "Who will do the work if you go from three to one?" He said that there would be no savings, since middle management positions would be created to do the work.

"I don't need some organization, not directly connected to what we do, trying to come up with ideas of how to make my life easier."

Other action
The superintendent told the school board about a recent national conference he attended at which it was clear that public education is under attack by the school voucher system, which would allow parents to decide where to send their children to school. He noted that private schools can be discriminatory in their admissions policies and are not subject to the requirements of the No Child Left Behind act and other regulations. He also informed the board that President Bush's budget proposal would cut funding for education by $2.1 billion or 3.8%, the largest cut in the history of the Department of Education.

Four seniors and senior class advisor David Consalvi spoke about plans for a trip by members of the senior class to Ocean City, N.J., from June 18 through 24. Although the trip will occur after the seniors have graduated, board members approved use of a school bus for the trip.

Shead Principal Terry Lux reported on a survey of high school students concerning the plan to serve breakfast at Shead. Almost all were in favor of the plan, and it is expected that the breakfast program may begin in April.

She spoke about Shead students participating in the early college program that is funded at present through the Down East Community Learning Alliance. Lux also noted that next year Shead is hoping to offer classes in Passamaquoddy language and/or history and culture, which will meet the state's Wabanaki studies requirement.

The Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) will be given Saturday, April 1, at the elementary school. The Maine Department of Education decided to replace the Grade 11 Maine Educational Assessment (MEA) by the SATs this year, which has upset a number of educators.

The principal told the board about outreach efforts to surrounding schools to attract tuition students and about the possibility of combining efforts with Calais and Woodland for summer school.

In her report, elementary school Principal Maureen Pottle noted that students in grades 3 through 8 are taking the MEAs this year. In the past only grades 4 and 8 students took the test.

The board listened to a presentation about the Title 1 program by staff Deborah Little and Benjamin Brigham. Director of Special Services Janet Weston noted that the federal government is moving towards more testing and research-based interventions for Title 1. It was noted that the focus on reading and math in the earlier grades should prepare the students well for high school.

The board approved a policy on the superintendent's allocation of services and costs among the five union school departments. The policy had already been approved by the joint union school board.