SAD 31 ponders building or busing

HOWLAND – Residents of the eight towns in SAD 31 may be looking at a “build or bus” situation concerning the future of its secondary education.

In an informational meeting held in the library at Hichborn Middle School, Superintendent William Ziemer said that in significant dialogues with the Department of Education, the state entity has communicated the idea that it would not support renovations of Penobscot Valley High School.

If the state’s position becomes official, it would take the renovation option off the table, leaving three: construction of a new high school on site, construction of a new school in a regional location or tuitioning its 237 students to another district.

Earlier this year, SAD 31 received site approval for a new facility, but wasn’t given concept approval. While the state has earmarked roughly $9.5 million for the construction of a new facility, the state board of education directed the district to reconsider how it could serve the region beyond the 237 students in the district.

School board member David Saucier said he believed the state was forcing the district into regionalization and he didn’t think that was right.

“They’re saying we can’t have our school repaired, we can’t have a new school here,” Saucier said. “What does that leave?”

In discussing possibilities, Ziemer said Superintendent David Walker and the board of directors of SAD 41, which includes the Milo area, have expressed an interest in talking with SAD 31 about the concepts of regionalization and consolidation.

Rather than share a new school with another district in a location other than Howland, Cory Hatch suggested that the community should try to ride out the state’s economic situation until it improves. Likewise, Hatch said, that as a parent, tuitioning wasn’t an option he would favor because of the possible impact to the area.

“Once you tuition, your community is gone,” Hatch said. “There’s nothing left.”

The SAD 31 board of directors will take the information from Thursday’s meeting and the previous two meetings on secondary education and discuss them in a workshop Dec. 4.