Gendron praises SAD 37 walk

ORLAND – Braving cold rain that fell through the afternoon, those taking part in the SAD 37 March to Augusta received hundreds of honks on the highway Friday as they finished the second day of their relay-style, five-day walk to “save their schools.”

Steve Pagels, chairman of the board of directors for SAD 37, reported the walkers received “amazing and uplifting support,” particularly through Ellsworth. They were completing their second 30-mile day, this one between Franklin and Orland.

Their total walk will cover 128 miles. The walk is to protest the state’s school funding formula under which two area schools stand to be closed.

Pagels is also a parent from Cherryfield, a town whose elementary school is one of two threatened by the district’s looming budget shortfall. Columbia Falls Elementary is the other.

“Everybody knew this walk wasn’t going to be easy,” Pagels said late Friday. “One of them said she was so proud looking at the walker ahead of her, alone in the rain with the torch.

“But if it was easy, how much credibility would we gain?”

Already the project has gained the attention of state leadership in Augusta. Susan Gendron, commissioner of the Departmentof Education, said,

“They are certainly to be commended for caring.”

The walkers left Thursday morning from Columbia Falls, passed through Cherryfield and finished in Franklin for the first day.

On Thursday afternoon, school administrators around the state all learned the amounts of funding their districts will receive through the state’s new Essential Programs and Services formula.

SAD 37 will receive $313,000 for the 2006-2007 school year – $166,000 less than the district received for the current year, Pagels noted.

Discussing the SAD 37 numbers specifically, Gendron said that SAD 37 currently has – by the department’s calculations – 26 fewer pupils in kindergarten through eighth grade than last year.

“We have evidence that EPS does work,” Gendron said.

The more troublesome part of the state’s funding for SAD 37 is derived from towns’ valuations, which were identified in January. Three of the district’s towns face considerable rises in valuation this year – Milbridge’s value will rise 23 percent for the second year in a row, Addison will rise 30 percent and Harrington 37.4 percent.