State to SAD 31: Seek high school partner

HOWLAND – The state Board of Education has stopped short of spelling out an acceptable plan for the $9.5 million it has earmarked for a new SAD 31 high school, and taxpayers may not be able to count on a new facility in town.

In a letter Monday to Superintendent William Ziemer, Jean Gulliver, who chairs the state board, said it is in the best interest of everyone for the district’s secondary education program to involve another district.

Gulliver also implied in the letter that Howland wouldn’t be a feasible location to house a new high school.

“The demographic and financial projections [for SAD 31] including the costs of operating a new building – the current budget, and the regional economy all make it difficult to develop a model in which an appropriate program could be maintained in a new building in Howland,” Gulliver wrote.

SAD 31 received site approval to build a new high school to replace Penobscot Valley High School in Howland, but the state board withheld funding last year and directed the district to reconsider how it could serve the region beyond its 236 students.

Public meetings were held in November to discuss options:

. Renovating the current building.

. Building a new school in Howland or elsewhere.

. Tuitioning the students to another district.

State Education Commissioner Susan Gendron eliminated the renovation option in December by saying she wouldn’t support it.

In addition to making suggestions about a new building’s potential location, Gulliver’s letter also made reference to a potential time frame that may affect SAD 31’s plans. New applications are expected from other districts for major capital projects beginning in June, Gulliver wrote, and the state board and DOE would be reviewing the status of projects on the state’s current to-do list.

“No project can remain on the list indefinitely in the absence of progress towards a workable solution,” Gulliver wrote. “Over a year has passed since the District was given a new direction to pursue and we are expecting to hear from you with a plan to move forward, perhaps with Lincoln.”

Gulliver couldn’t be reached for additional comment Tuesday night.

After reading the letter Tuesday, SAD 31 board Chairman Paul LaForge said it appeared that Gulliver didn’t believe Howland had the resources to build or run a new high school. It also appeared that Gulliver was setting June as the deadline to come up with a plan, LaForge said.

“Talks we had with the commissioner in December led us to believe we had a year to a year and a half to work on [a solution],” LaForge said. “This tightens up the timeline.”

LaForge said he wished the state board had given a little more direction a year ago when it decided to withhold concept approval for Howland, given that Gulliver was now implying the district should partner with Lincoln.

“All they said was that they wanted us to explore regional options,” LaForge said. “It could have meant distance learning involving computers. It could have meant anything.”

A viable solution will require a lot of hard work and cooperation with the communities because there are a number of factions within the district that support different plans, LaForge said.

“I think this will continue to be a topic of discussion at our board meetings until it’s done,” LaForge said.

The SAD 31 board of directors recently formed a task force to develop a plan for its high school programs, Ziemer said. Discussions were held Monday night with SAD 67 (Lincoln area) and SAD 41 (Milo area) on the issue of secondary education, Ziemer said, although the direction of others meetings has yet to be determined.