LIMESTONE, Maine — Limestone Community School is only a few months away from officially leaving RSU 39, as part of a withdrawal agreement that voters accepted on election day last November.
Since then, residents formed a school board and began working with RSU 39 to ensure a smooth transition. On April 3, School Board Chair Kathie Beaulieu introduced newly appointed Superintendent William Dobbins to the community during a regular Select Board meeting.
Dobbins told the board he has about 25 years of experience as the superintendent in Caswell, a neighboring town, and knows The County and Limestone area very well.
“I’m very pleased to have been selected as the new superintendent for Limestone Community School starting July 1, 2019,” he told the board. “We have a major undertaking going on right now, and are starting the new school from square zero.”
He said the school committee members are “very fine people,” who are extremely motivated.
“They’re very demanding and they want to get to work,” he said. “As a County boy, I expect that, and am very pleased to take on the challenge.”
Currently Dobbins is familiarizing himself with the layout of the school building as well as some of the new administration’s goals.
“After getting a good feeling of the building, I found a couple problems I have to start working on,” he said. “One is working to develop a multi-year contract with MSSM [the Maine School of Science and Mathematics, also located on the LCS campus] instead of a one year agreement. The other is improving the school’s food service.”
He said he is also working to create a new accounting system by July 1, because payroll will need to be taken care of within the first two weeks of the new school year, and that he is also making sure the school’s annual budget is ready in time for Limestone’s annual town meeting.
Limestone initiated the withdrawal process on April 6, 2017, when the RSU 39 school board voted to send Limestone’s high school students to Caribou to save an estimated $600,000 and help close a $1.4 million funding shortfall. The move also benefited RSU 39 as the state’s school funding formula penalizes school districts for low student-to-teacher ratios, and removing high school teachers from Limestone and adding more students to Caribou helped the school obtain more state funding.
The closure prompted a petition amongst Limestone residents to seek out the best method of withdrawal, which was overwhelmingly approved. The town also approved an official withdrawal agreement last November. Residents then formed a school board and several subcommittees, after which the board selected Dobbins as the school’s new superintendent.
Dobbins told the selectmen on Wednesday that, more than the aforementioned priorities, he wants to make sure the “children come first.”
“I’m very pleased to be here,” he said in closing. “I like the challenge, and I like the people in the area. We’re all from The County, so I’m very blessed.”
