At the Eastport City Council public hearing on May 16, certain statistics were presented by members of the budget committee. In the interest of fairness and informed decision-making, here is a broader picture to consider before a final budget vote is taken.

MEA scores:

Budget chairperson Larkin McGarvey quoted Maine Educational Assessment results for Shead High School and warned that the state would be closing low-performing schools. Instead of using the most recent data available on the state of Maine’s education Web site, she chose to quote scores from 2002-2003, and to quote these scores in a vacuum, with no relevant points of comparison. The implication was that Shead performs much more poorly than other schools in Washington County. An analysis of scores provided by the Department of Education Web site shows a different picture.

MEA scores are reported in 20-point bands. The band in which Shead’s score averages fall is the 521-540 range, “partially meets the standards.” Here’s something everyone should be aware of: The state averages also fall in the “partially meets” range. The fact that so many schools do not meet the standards indicates that there are issues that need to be addressed statewide.

Publicly available from the DOE Web site, 2003-2004 11th-grade MEA data show how Washington County schools stack up, in order of highest score to lowest in each subject.

Reading:

State average (539); Shead, Washington Academy and Woodland-Baileyville (538); Machias (537); Calais and Lubec (535).

Writing:

Woodland (538); state average and Machias (537); Lubec and Washington Academy (534); Shead and Calais (533).

Mathematics:

State average and Machias (529); Shead and Washington Academy (526); Woodland and Calais (525); Lubec (519).

Science-Technology:

State average and Machias (527); Washington Academy and Woodland (526); Shead and Calais (522);

Lubec (519).

If Shead is in danger of being closed for low test scores, it seems that will be the fate of many schools in Maine. This information is available to all at: http://www.state. me.us/education/profiles/profilehome.htm. Click “Get profile data,” click “Public schools,” and type in the name of the school.

Graduation rates:

McGarvey also quoted graduation rates, again implying that Shead is far below expectations. Here’s how Shead stacks up against other area schools, according to Maine DOE statistics, with 1 being the highest rate and 7 the lowest:

2002 graduation rates:

1. Woodland Junior-Senior High School, 90.48 percent

2. Machias Memorial High School, 88.64 percent

3. State average, 86.71 percent

4. Lubec High School, 85.1 percent

5. Shead High School, 84.21 percent

6. Washington Academy, 80.95

percent

7. Calais High School, 73.03 percent.

2003 graduation rates – Washington Academy’s are not available:

1. Machias Memorial High School, 92.31 percent

2. State average, 87.57 percent

3. Woodland Junior-Senior High School, 84.62 percent

4. Shead High School, 79.25 percent

5. Calais High School, 76.47 percent

6. Lubec High School, 75 percent

From the variation in figures for all Down East schools, it’s easy to see that beyond the schools’ performances, there are factors individual to each class that affect graduation rates. This information is available at the above-referenced URL

by clicking “Other student data.”

Per-pupil costs:

Budget committee member Janet Battista has floated a per-pupil cost of $11,000 for educating a student in the Eastport school system. These figures are refuted by the state and by School Union 104. Here, from the state of Maine Department of Education Web site, are the actual figures on per-pupil costs for K-12 education at Down East schools, and the state ranking for expenditures – from most to least. These statistics are from 2002-2003, the most recent available.

Woodland, $10,489.71, 13th most expensive K-12 per-pupil cost in Maine;

Lubec, $9819.06, 20th most expensive;

Machias, $9008.55, 30th most expensive;

Calais, $8164.66, 54th most expensive;

Shead, $7889.55, 72nd most expensive;

These figures, and those for other Maine schools, are available at http://www.maine/gov/education/data/ppcosts/2003/03all.htm. Advocates of closing Shead and tuitioning out Eastport secondary students should be mindful of the fact that every school to which they could send these students has a higher per-pupil cost than Shead.

The economic pressures on Eastport schools are being felt by all small rural schools. All we ask is that when decisions are made, they be based on accurate, verifiable facts and not on skewed statistics and questionable financial analysis.

In the interest of our own full disclosure, two of the undersigned are employees of Shead High School, but this commentary represents our own research and opinions on this important subject, and does not necessarily reflect the official opinions of the school department, its administration, faculty, or staff. As a group, we are three Shead alumnae, two parents of current Shead students, one grandparent of an Eastport Elementary School student, and two parents of Shead graduates.

We support the Eastport School Department, Eastport Elementary School and Shead High School, and ask residents, taxpayers, and citizens who share our views to contact the members of the Eastport

City Council.

Although the public hearing has passed, it’s not too late to weigh in on this important issue. The vote is scheduled for this evening at 7 p.m.

Please attend.

This commentary was signed by Catherine J.S. Lee and Colleen Dana-Cummings, education technicians III at Shead High School in Eastport; and Mina Bowen and Alberta Matthews, who are parents of current and former Eastport School Department students.