Education

AOS #77 board members and residents of towns in the Sunrise County School System, at an October 17 meeting of the AOS board in Perry, expressed their unhappiness that Calais and possibly Eastport are considering leaving the AOS. Calais residents will be voting during the general election on November 6

Calais residents who attended the October 22 Calais School Liaison Committee meeting voiced their concerns about their city leaving the AOS. One member of the public said during the public question-and-answer segment, "Other communities are having trouble.

The move by the Calais City Council and school board to see if the city's residents want to withdraw from AOS 77 has prompted the Eastport school board also to begin the process for withdrawing from the regional school district.

The Calais School Committee has asked the superintendent of AOS #77, James Underwood, to work with the Maine School Management Association to estimate the cost to Calais if the city withdraws from the AOS and sets up its own school district.

Students in the University of Maine at Machias' Geographic Information System (GIS) classes are bringing Washington County's municipal tax maps into the 21st Century, and they're learning skills that will greatly expand their employment opportunities upon graduation.

While school officials try to figure out why preliminary state subsidy figures for almost all AOS #77 schools are showing such dramatic cuts in funding, Eastport and AOS school officials are making it clear that even if the city loses 75% of its state funding, as currently projected, Shead High...