STACYVILLE, Maine — The RSU 50 board is facing some tough decisions for the future of the district.
Should the district move forward with a consolidation plan that would see Katahdin Middle-High School and Southern Aroostook Community School fold into one, newly named high school unit? Or should the district pursue other consolidations efforts? Or maybe the district should do nothing and just stay the course?
Those are the questions board members have been wrestling with for almost a year now, with no clear indication of which path the district will take.
At an Oct. 13 board meeting, interim Superintendent Mike Hammer presented the board with one possible scenario that would see Katahdin Middle-High School in Stacyville shuttered and the district’s seventh and eighth grade students sent across the street to Katahdin Elementary School. Meanwhile, students in grades 9-12 would be sent roughly 22 miles up Interstate 95 to Southern Aroostook Community School in Dyer Brook.
If the district were to pursue this option, SACS would likely be renamed as a new regional school and the school mascot changed, meaning it would be the end of the Warriors and Cougars in athletic contests and academic venues.
The process of figuring out which direction the district should go began nearly a year ago, when the consolidated school board decided it needed to have an independent review of its infrastructure. That study revealed issues with all three school buildings in the district.
According to Hammer, the KES building is in the best condition. That building, however, is not without its flaws as a number of windows should be replaced in the near future; the parking area needs to be repaved; the athletic fields are in need of attention; and the septic system may need upgrading in the future.
Moving grades 7-12 from KMHS to KES was not feasible without adding on to the structure or using mobile classrooms, he said.
KMHS is in need of new roof, which could come with a big price tag as changes to the load-bearing structure may be needed, Hammer said. The building’s exterior is deteriorating and the athletic fields need work. One of the bigger issues, however, is the lack of a kitchen. For years, food has been cooked at KES and brought across the street for students.
Moving the elementary students over to KMHS was not feasible without considerable renovations to the building, such as smaller bathrooms to accommodate the smaller students. A kitchen would also need to be constructed.
SACS, which houses grades K-12, is also in need of a new roof and funds have been set aside for this purpose in previous budgets, but not enough to cover the whole expense. Windows, paving and exterior facade issues also exist at the school.
Closing SACS and moving all of the students to the Katahdin schools was mentioned, but Hammer said the savings would not be as great because costly repairs would have to be made.
“No vote has been made and all of this is still just conversational,” Hammer said. “I am still looking for direction from you (the board).”
“Each building has its own set of problems,” said board chairman Phil Knowles. “The roof at KES is already 10 years past its life expectancy. It’s not an easy decision.”
In order to begin the process of closing a school, the board would need to take a weighted vote, with two-thirds in the majority. No such vote has been taken to this point. The communities that send students to KMHS would then have to vote on whether they want to pay the additional money to keep that school open.
“I know you (the board) would like to put this to all of the communities for a vote, but you just don’t do that in this process,” Hammer said.
If the district were to close KMHS, Hammer told the board it could reduce its budget by about $621,916. Numerous positions would be eliminated under this proposal.
Declining enrollment in the district has had a compound effect, Hammer said. From October 2014 to October 2015, the district lost 45 students based on the most recent enrollment figures. There are 110 KMHS students, and 90 at SACS. The student-teacher ratio is about 12 to 1.
Because the district has fewer students, it is receiving less state subsidy for education, which in turn is putting more of an economic burden on municipalities that are already stating taxes are too high.
“You can continue to keep running things the way they are,” Hammer said. “But I know you have thrown numbers out for quite some time on a number of scenarios. I know it is an emotional decision.”
The board will revisit the matter at its next regular meeting, scheduled for Monday, Nov. 9 at 6:30 p.m. at SACS. The meeting is open to the public.
