Quality education costs less in SAD 38

Much has been reported in the news lately about school funding and combining schools to reduce costs. The idea coming from Augusta is that by combining school districts it will cost less to educate our children.

I would like to introduce everyone to SAD 38. With all the information about small school and consolidation of school districts in the news, I thought it might be important for people to get to know a small rural school.

The towns of Etna and Dixmont make up SAD 38. The district was formed in the mid-1960s. It consists of one pre-kindergarten through grade 8 school with just under 300 students.

The school was built with the Etna and Dixmont town line going right through the middle of the building.

We tuition our secondary students to Nokomis High School in Newport. This school is the focal point of both towns; from town meeting to ballgames to concerts to scouting, they all happen at our school.

Since the beginning of the district we have always been among the lowest per pupil cost districts in the state. For at least the last decade we have been in the bottom 20 districts in terms of per pupil costs. Does that mean if we combine with another district we will be the lowest cost in the state?

The math does not add up. We already share many positions, programs and costs with our sister district, SAD 23. We were instrumental in forming the Rural Schools Partnership, a group of similar schools that share staff development and other costs.

SAD 38 has always kept our costs low. This has not meant that we have sacrificed the quality of education or the programs we offer. We usually fall above the state average on the Maine Educational Assessment.

We were one of the first districts in the area to have a full-day kindergarten; one of the first to offer pre-K; one of the first to offer a foreign language in the elementary grade. We have been leaders in developing local assessments for the Learning Results.

Last year our school budget went up around 1 percent, yet property taxes went up by double digits. We do not fit the model the state has developed for funding essential programs and services. What I don’t understand is why we were not used as the model.

Our per pupil costs are lower than most schools throughout the state. More important though is that we have been able to provide a quality education and preserve the community that revolves around our school. We have done this by putting students and community first and the only way this happens is with local control.

Everyone who cares about their small community schools should be letting the folks in Augusta know that we are able to provide quality education at a low cost.

They need to look no farther than SAD 38.

Phil Dolan, a resident of Dixmont, is chair of the SAD 38 school board.