Rockwood to fight for small school

ROCKWOOD – A state official on Wednesday urged Rockwood residents to “fight like crazy” to keep their small school open if the state moves to close it as part of an effort to regionalize or consolidate.

Moving children around and closing schools in the unorganized territories will not save the state a dime because no state subsidy is used to educate these children, Richard Moreau, director of state schools for the Maine Department of Education, said. Education costs in unorganized territories are funded solely by landowners in those territories, most of whom are paper companies, he said.

Moreau’s statement came during a meeting this week conducted by Education Commissioner Susan Gendron regarding efficiencies that be might be achieved by regionalizing or consolidating schools in organized and unorganized territories.

The meeting was in response to Gov. John Baldacci’s effort to find ways to reduce the impact of education on property taxes. A task force is studying ways to streamline, yet improve educational opportunities, which might include consolidation or regionalization. The recommendations of this task force will be made public before they are presented to the Legislature for action, Gendron said.

Similar meetings have been or will be held in the five other schools in the unorganized territories of Benedicta, Connor, Edmunds, Kingman and Sinclair.

While Gendron admitted that unorganized territories are unique and property taxes are low, she said the state can’t just ignore these schools and their operating efficiencies.

The per-pupil cost of education at the Rockwood school is about $11,000 compared to about $6,300 in Greenville. But Moreau reiterated that unorganized territories do not operate on state funds and said that a bigger school does not necessarily mean a better school.

Residents made it clear that they supported the community school. Stephanie Ashley, who has two of the 11 children enrolled at Rockwood Elementary School, which serves kindergarten through grade five, said residents fought to keep the school open two years ago and vowed the community would do it again if they had to.

Ashley and other residents repeatedly told Gendron about the excellent quality of education the children received at the local school. They also mentioned the disadvantages if the school were closed. These included the distance to the closest schools – Greenville, 20 miles away, or Jackman, 26 miles, and the loss of community that would result.

Moreau agreed that unorganized territories offer a “very unique” way of life and one that other communities like Atkinson are seeking. “Instead of getting smaller, unorganized territories are getting bigger,” he said.

That way of life could be compromised if the discussion becomes political in Augusta over the approximately $4.8 million the 417 unorganized territories spend for education, Moreau said.