Robbinston weighs cost of school choice

The June 13 meeting of the Robbinston School Committee saw a review of two prospective budgets, only one of which maintains school choice for Robbinston students. The separate budgets were requested for comparison purposes in the face of a $230,392 shortfall caused by the sudden and unexpected loss of Robbinston's ability to place tuition caps for its students. Parents at the meeting voiced their concern about the potential loss of school choice, something some assert was a condition of the closure of the Robbinston Grade School in 2015.

"For my oldest son in particular, it would be absolutely devastating," says Michelle Hagar. Her son, who has special needs, is going into the second grade in Pembroke, where he has built supports and resources, she says. "For any kid, special needs or not, to rip out their support network and force them to a new environment is damaging. That's going to set us back years. A lot of parents are concerned about the kids' mental health."

Calais and Robbinston Superintendent Mary Anne Spearin, who presented the two budgets, says, "We are in hopes of being able to maintain school choice for our students while bringing forward a fiscally responsible budget." Spearin says she was asked to prepare one budget showing "full school choice with current and projected Robbinston student enrollment" and the other showing "the lowest possible tuition cost for the FY 2026 school year," she explains.

Reviewing both budgets was necessary, Spearin says, because "late this spring we discovered the Town of Robbinston is no longer able to place a tuition cap on students attending any elementary or high school unless there is an exclusive contract for our students. This significantly raised the previous budgeted tuition expenses, and the board wanted to understand the situation in real numbers, hence why the two options were provided."

Calais is the lowest tuition cost option, with a rate of $7,853 for elementary students and $10,018 for high school students. Previously, Robbinston paid area schools no more than the rate Calais sets plus 10%, but without being able to do so tuition costs would be higher.

The budget with school choice shows a shortfall of $230,392, with the increase in expenses largely coming from regular instruction due to the increased tuition rates, with a total cost of $912,740. The cost of elementary instruction would increase by $46,009 over the previous year, and the cost of high school instruction would increase by $187,228, for a total increase of $233,236.

The budget without school choice shows a shortfall of $9,779. The cost of regular instruction would be $672,569, or $6,935 lower than last year. Elementary instruction would increase by $40,031 over last year, while secondary instruction would decrease by $46,966 over last year. Between the two drafts, the difference in the cost of secondary education is $234,194.

No tuition proposals from other schools were reviewed or discussed during the Robbinston board's June 13 meeting, and no votes were taken. "The [two] options were provided for real number conversation and in hopes that community members would provide feedback on their perspectives of best interest of students balanced with fiscal responsibility," Spearin says. Based on the feedback, the committee contacted area schools to request tuition proposals. Special meetings were scheduled at Perry, Pembroke and Eastport for Wednesday, June 25, for the respective school committees to discuss the issue.

Perry ‘would be devastated’ by loss

Losing the students -- which have already been figured into the next year's budget -- would "hurt our schools," says MaryEllen Day, superintendent of AOS 77, consisting of Alexander, Baring, Charlotte, Crawford, Dennysville, Eastport, Lubec, Pembroke and Perry. "Perry in particular would be devastated. Possibly to the point of closure."

Currently, Robbinston has 33 high school students with 17 enrolled in schools outside of Calais. It has 41 total elementary students, with 18 enrolled in Perry and 18 in Calais.

During their respective meetings, the Pembroke School Committee voted to offer tuition agreements of $12,000 for the next two years, with no transportation included; the Eastport School Committee offered its current rate of the Calais rate plus 10% for two years for elementary students and the Calais rate plus 10% for one year followed by a switch to the state rate of $14,081 for high school students, with transportation included for both schools; and the Perry School Committee offered to stay at the rate of Calais plus 10% for two years with transportation included.

"We don't want to have an exclusive contract with Robbinston. None of our towns do. But if Robbinston does choose that route, Perry can offer a better contract," Day says, noting there is no transportation cost with the Perry deal. "But nobody wants to do that."

Maintaining the option of school choice is a strong preference for Robbinston families, Hagar says. "All the parents -- nobody is interested in creating an exclusive agreement with anybody. It's not that we're saying that some schools are better than others. But for our kids, some schools may be better for them."

For Hagar, who has since started Robbinston Families First on Facebook and as an email group, the main problem -- apart from the potential loss of school choice -- is a lack of transparency in the situation. In general, Hagar says the community is not very aware of the considerations being made. "It's kind of surprising to me how few people knew this was a thing."

The next meeting of the Robbinston School Committee, which will include a review of tuition proposals from area schools, is scheduled for July 10 at 6 p.m.