LIMESTONE, Maine — The town began considering withdrawing from RSU 39 when the regional school board voted in April to transfer Limestone’s high school students to Caribou. Since then, residents here have filed a petition, voted to hire an attorney and educational consultant, held a public hearing, and on May 16 voted to form a four member withdrawal committee to move forward with the process.
The Limestone School Committee suggested people to serve on the new withdrawal committed and the town’s Board of Selectpeople later approved the selections. Named to the panel were Fred Pelletier, a selectman; Kathie Beaulieu, a member of the petitioning group; Brent O’Neal, a community member; and Clifford Rhome, a member of the RSU school board who lives in Limestone.
The committee is authorized to spending up to $40,000 in the withdrawal process.
Rhome, during a May 17 RSU 39 meeting, spoke of his appointment to the committee.
“I have been asked to serve as the school board member,” Rhome said, adding that other members are “aware that I’m not really in support of withdrawal at this time.”
RSU 39 Superintendent Tim Doak and Board Chairperson Tanya Sleeper agreed that Rhome’s neutral stance on the matter makes him a good choice for the committee.
Rhome said the committee is looking at several options, and touched on the possibility of giving Caribou schools more generic names in an effort to not alienate students who may attend in the future due to the closure of smaller schools. The RSU represents Limestone and Stockholm, but some students from Woodland and New Sweden also attend Caribou High School.
“The initial process is to retain Limestone’s high school,” Rhome said, “but I think there is some realization that it may be difficult to do. So they’re entertaining other options. Some Limestone residents I’ve spoken to have suggested changing the name of [Caribou High School] and mascots to make it more of a generic high school. I know that’s costly, but if there are considerations of redoing the gym floor, this might be the time to do it and become more neutral as smaller schools dissolve.”
“You’ll no longer be Caribou, but something like Eastern Aroostook High School,” Rhome suggested.
“I think you’re going to find that a lot of smaller schools will be forced, for lack of a better term, to look at regionalization,” Sleeper said.
Doak mentioned how Gov. Paul LePage’s proposed changes in his biennial budget to the formula that determines how much funding schools receive based on factors such as property valuation and student to teacher ratios, are harming smaller schools. Adding that the state commissioner of education has said he wants to see “districts of 7,000 kids.”
The superintendent compared the withdrawal process to a divorce, saying that Limestone and RSU 39 will have to negotiate who gets what resources, such as general fund money and buses, adding that it could result in a wash.
Both Rhome and Doak agreed that, while there are winners and losers in the process, the attorneys are the only guaranteed victors.
