Plan to move AOS 77 office stirs questions

Plans for the AOS 77 central office to move from Eastport to Robbinston are proceeding, with the move scheduled to occur this summer. Although efforts have been made by city officials to have the office remain in Eastport, the options have not been considered acceptable by the superintendent's office. The reasons for moving include a need for classroom space at the Eastport Elementary School, where the central office is currently located, and student safety concerns. Some Eastport officials, though, believe those issues can be resolved and that the AOS is acting hastily, pointing out that the proposed new location will cost at least five times more than the current arrangement at the Eastport school.
According to AOS 77 Superintendent MaryEllen Day, her office is working with Robbinston town officials on developing a lease agreement for use of the former Robbinston Grade School, which has been vacant for nine years. After the select board acts on the lease proposal, a special town meeting will be held, possibly at the end of May or early June, to see if Robbinston residents approve having the town sign a 10-year lease with the AOS for the use of the former school.
At present, the lease proposal calls for the AOS to be responsible for electricity and heating costs, with the town already paying for services such as mowing and plowing. The possible cost to the AOS for the utilities is being estimated at $25,000 a year, although no limit on the cost is included in the lease proposal. That sum is more than five times the current amount paid by the AOS to Eastport, which has been $4,500 annually for a number of years.
For maintenance work, the town of Robbinston and the AOS might split the costs for smaller projects, with the AOS considering setting aside $5,000 a year in a designated fund for maintenance, according to Day. Larger projects, such as work on the roof or floor or windows, would be paid for by the town. Day notes that the town currently is paying for repairing a major leak in the gym.
Referencing the current office location, Day maintains, "It's been made clear since November that we need to be out of this building." But not all are pleased with how the plan to move the office developed. Walter Cummings, chair of the Eastport School Committee, notes that a question had been raised at the November meeting of the Eastport board about whether a lease agreement should be looked into between the AOS and Eastport for using the space at the elementary school. "That's as far as we took it," says Cummings, noting that the question was simply meant to open a conversation about developing a lease. But then, he says, "It exploded, and it shouldn't have. It grew legs and took off on us." He adds, "It went to 'you're kicking us out.' I don't know how it got to this point. The school board never asked them to leave."
As for the issues raised, the EES principal, Bobbie Clark, did say at the March 20 school board meeting that she wants additional classroom space in the school building. She added, though, that "the real reason" is student safety. Concerns have been raised about student safety potentially caused by visitors to the AOS office. The Eastport city manager, Brian Schuth, has met with the superintendent to see if those issues could be worked out. Schuth says, "I put a lot of options out there." While not all of them may have been realistic because of the costs involved, the superintendent felt that Robbinston offers the best choice and "didn't feel comfortable spending a lot more money" on a building, Schuth says.
"But it never got to the point of negotiating the issues," says Cummings on the discussions, adding, "The city council, the city manager and the school board are willing to negotiate a lease agreement to accommodate the office."
Cummings also believes the costs for leasing the space in Robbinston may be "grossly underestimated. I think it will cost more than they're anticipating." Noting that Robbinston is not in AOS 77, he points out that the AOS will now be sending money out of the regional school district instead of keeping it within the district. "It doesn't sound financially responsible for them to go up there."
"I think there's still room for us to appease the superintendent's office," he says. "You're leaving a good environment, and we wanted to work with you and you're leaving."
After the November Eastport school board meeting and some additional discussions at Eastport and AOS board meetings, at a meeting on March 11 in Dennysville, the AOS 77 board had voted to authorize the superintendent to look at and possibly enter into a lease agreement for the use of the former Robbinston school. Cummings, though, notes that the representatives from the school boards of the nine town in the AOS who serve on the AOS board did not bring back the proposal to move the office to Robbinston to be discussed by their respective boards.
Although the elementary school has less than a third of the number of students that it was built for, Day understands that the school would like to be able to use the three classrooms that are presently occupied by the AOS central office. The Eastport school was built for 350 students and currently has 90, but there are not any classrooms that are not being used, according to Day. She says that, with some students needing one on one ed techs and counselors, all of the available space in the school is occupied.
As for the student safety concern, those coming to the AOS central office pass through the front portion of the school and may not always be escorted back from the office to the entrance. It's been noted that adding a separate door to enter the central office from outside the building could help address that concern.
While some city councillors have looked at using the former superintendent's office that is next to the elementary school, it would need to be renovated and made larger.
If a lease agreement is not reached with Robbinston, then "we'll have to go to something more expensive," says Day, who maintains that the Robbinston proposal is "the lowest cost option." She also says that, although Robbinston is not in the AOS, an office there would be closer than Eastport for some of the other communities in the AOS.
Of the current plan, Day says, "It's a win-win situation," with Robbinston currently paying the utility costs for a vacant building. According to Day, most other superintendent's offices in the state are not in schools but rather in separate buildings. Whether there will be more discussions by city and AOS officials about the office leaving Eastport is not yet clear.