Survey to be sent out despite concerns

FORT KENT – SAD 27 officials are looking to residents for comment and direction in the wake of declining enrollment projections and the possible withdrawal of member towns.

Central to the information-gathering process is a 23-question survey that will be mailed to district residents in the coming weeks. SAD 27 directors approved the survey during a meeting Saturday.

However, according to one board member, the survey is “a seriously flawed instrument” combining multiple issues in single questions and is biased.

Designed by faculty of the University of Maine’s Center for Policy Research and funded through a $5,000 appropriation by the SAD 27 board, the survey’s questions focus on demographics, perceptions of education quality in the district, expenses for education, class size and composition and suggestions for cutting costs – including closing schools.

SAD 27 comprises seven communities and has elementary schools in Fort Kent, Wallagrass, Eagle Lake and St. Francis. All district students attend high school in Fort Kent.

“The board had been discussing long-range plans and it was suggested we get some community input,” said Sandra Bernstein, district superintendent.

According to projections prepared by the UM policy center, SAD 27 is facing a 144-student decrease by 2004. In today’s state education dollars, that means a loss in state revenue of $537,840.

At the same time, according to the research, should Eagle Lake and Winterville withdraw from the district, the remaining five towns face an estimated budget shortfall of $322,752 to maintain current programs and services.

The two towns are pursuing withdrawal action following an unsuccessful move last year to amend the district’s cost-sharing formula, which Eagle Lake and Winterville officials say places a disproportional financial burden on the two lakeside towns.

“I have a real problem with this survey,” Priscilla Staples, board member from Fort Kent, said. “You have two issues – enrollment and separation of Eagle Lake and Winterville – and now both have been linked in one document. As a researcher I know this is not a good thing.”

At the same time questioning the validity of the survey, Staples and other board members say some of the questions were designed to be inflammatory.

“I don’t think this [survey] comes close to what you want,” said Garfield King, a board member from Fort Kent. “Some of these questions should be thrown out.”

King was referring specifically to a series of questions asking if the board should consider closing any schools in SAD 27 and, if so, which one or ones.

District officials say they are following the will of the board. “You discussed [the school closure] options as a way to save money,” Bernstein said. “Help me to understand why the board would not want public opinion on those options.”

Combining issues into one survey, said Staples, creates a confusing research tool that she said would produce little usable information. She recommended testing the survey out on the board before the public mailing.

Officials felt that process would be too cumbersome.

“When you have a group of this size it is difficult to write something,” Bernstein said. “If the board, as a body, has concerns they should be shared with the researchers as feedback.” The purpose of the survey, Bernstein said, is to get an idea of district members’ feelings on issues.

The proposed survey, Staples said, is not the instrument to do it. “This survey does not meet any acceptable standards. I know, I taught research methods. This is a seriously flawed instrument.”

A motion by Staples to reword the survey before board action failed. A second motion to delay action on the survey pending consultation with its authors also failed.

The survey, Bernstein said, should be mailed to district residents within the next two weeks.

“The information you want is important,” Staples said. “I hazard to say you are pushing it ahead for the sake of convenience.”