Education

A shuffling of the deck is taking place in the Eastport school system, as a native Eastporter who moved into the field of education in his 40s and has taught for the past several years at Shead High School now will lead the school, as the principal moves on to become a superintendent.

A small crowd attended state Education Commissioner Susan Gendron's presentation at the Rose M. Gaffney School on Monday, September 10, on the proposed new Machias high school or a regional high school for the western portion of the county.

School boards that make up Union 104 in Eastport, Perry, Pembroke, Charlotte and Dennysville will hold public forums to discuss partnering with other area school districts to consolidate administrative duties mandated by the state.

With the state's plan for school regionalization now to take effect within a year, following passage of a school administrative reorganization law as part of the state budget, school units are already beginning to jockey for potential partners in the newly mandated super districts.

A controversial plan to implement sweeping changes in school administrative units has been adopted by the legislature as part of the state budget. The Maine House of Representatives voted 112 to 29 in favor of the budget, and the Senate enacted the budget by a vote of 28-7 on June 6.

With a drop in state subsidy of nearly $65,000 for the Eastport school system, Superintendent Arthur Wittine has proposed a draft budget that requests a 3% increase in local tax funding and eliminates the art program at Shead High School.