SCHOOL SMARTS

A regional high school with students from Orono and Old Town and the involvement of the University of Maine has been talked about for at least 60 years. A group of mostly retired school officials and businesspeople has revived the idea. It is past time for this idea to get a much closer look.

The group, headed by well-known Old Town businessman Ralph Leonard, whose father was the superintendent of schools for Orono and Old Town, sees a state resolve supporting the creation of regional high schools as the push needed to revive the overdue discussion. The resolve is helpful, especially because it could mean additional state funding for the construction of a new high school.

More convincing, however, is that the high schools in both Orono and Old Town face declining enrollments, which are heavily dependent on tuition students from other communities, and increasing costs to maintain the aging buildings. To reduce costs and improve education, a consolidated high school makes sense. Starting over with a new building near the border of the two communities is a positive way to overcome the perceived rivalry and possible concerns parents have about their children going to high school outside their town.

The campus of the University of Maine straddles both communities. Involving the university and its College of Education makes this an even more attractive idea.

The group is drafting a letter outlining their concept that will be sent to both communities’ school committees. Such a letter should start a needed conversation. It also offers a way to repair some of the ill will left when Orono reversed course and dropped a plan to consolidate with Old Town as part of the state’s school administration reorganization requirements.

To move this idea forward, both town councils or school committees should, at a minimum, designate representatives to work with Mr. Leonard’s group. Better would be for the committee and councils to pass a resolution supporting the concept and to create a joint committee, including some members from Mr. Leonard’s group and representatives from UMaine, to pursue a consolidated high school.

There will be resistance, likely based on talk about the benefits of small schools and the difficulty of dividing costs and decision making, but these should not be excuses for dismissing a cooperative approach to a growing long-term problem. If people are opposed to the idea, they must show how the current system remains viable with fewer students and rising costs.

As talks proceed, the emphasis should remain on improving education by offering a wider variety of courses and extracurricular activities and on lowering operating costs by maintaining one efficient school rather than two inefficient ones.

Logistics and politics can be high hurdles to clear, but they don’t have to be impediments to needed school reforms, including consolidation. Old Town and Orono, with the resources of the University of Maine in their backyards, have an opportunity to lead the way.