SAD 31 continues consolidation debate

HOWLAND – Changes on SAD 31’s horizon were heatedly debated at a meeting Wednesday evening at Hitchborn Middle School, including the issue of whether or not to consolidate with SAD 67, tuition high school students to Mattanawcook Academy, or stay as a separate district and repair and renovate Penobscot Valley High School. Public opinion has strongly favored keeping a high school in the district.

“I will not bow down to the state until every option has been exhausted,” SAD 31 Director David Saucier said, drawing applause from the crowd.

“It’s your duty as a board to keep this school in this community,” a West Enfield resident said.

Steve Rich, an architect hired to compile a joint feasibility study on the costs of each option, found asbestos in the ceiling of the Penobscot Valley High School cafeteria, according to Superintendent William Ziemer. Results of an engineering report conducted in 1998 show that part of the school’s roofing needs to be repaired immediately. The asbestos and the ceiling repairs would be unanticipated costs if the district decided to repair and renovate the high school, Ziemer said.

“In order to make the building safe, it needs to be repaired,” Ziemer said.

How much of the roof needs repair is unknown at this point, Ziemer said. Some members of the board expressed a desire to look at the roof themselves with an independent engineer before the start of school. The issue will be put on the agenda for a future special board of directors meeting.

The Penobscot Region Educational Task Force, a board subcommittee, presented a proposal to consolidate the district internally, creating two schools: a kindergarten-sixth grade school at the current Enfield School Station complex, and a seventh-12th grade school at the current middle school-high school complex.

The task force also recommends that SAD 31 and SAD 67 consolidate their superintendents and office administration in a School Leadership District.

At the meeting, the board voted to look into the possibility of changing the method of cost sharing.

Each municipality within the district is at 100 percent valuation, but representatives from Lowell say they are paying too much and want to see their share of district costs based on pupil percentages.

“We just can’t keep going,” one Lowell representative said. “It’s getting outrageous.”

Because of the rising costs of education, representatives from Lowell say they might consider removing the town from SAD 31 and instead tuition their students to area schools.

The board’s vote will allow a committee to be set up to look into the possibility of changing the cost share formula.

In other business, Beth Turner of Burlington was elected as chairwoman of the board for the 2004-2005 year. Vanessa Bruce was elected vice chairwoman.