STACYVILLE, Maine — Voters in Patten, Sherman, Mount Chase, and Stacyville will cast ballots Tuesday, Nov. 7, on whether they wish to withdraw from RSU 50.
If the vote fails in any of the four towns, all four will remain in RSU 50. If the vote in any one town exceeds 45 percent in favor of the withdrawal agreement, but withdrawal still fails, that town has the option to begin the withdrawal process again, either independently or with other towns in the same position.
If the vote for withdrawal receives less than 45 percent in any town, that town cannot move to withdraw again for another two years.
Withdrawal plans were put into motion almost two years ago, following an effort by the RSU 50 school board to close Katahdin Middle /High School during the budget process.
The board was considering closing Katahdin Middle-High School and sending its seventh- and eighth-graders from that school across the street to Katahdin Elementary School. The remaining students in grades 9-12 would have been bused roughly 22 miles up Interstate 95 to Southern Aroostook Community School in Dyer Brook.
But that plan failed after meeting with considerable resistance from those in the Katahdin area.
According to enrollment figures provided by the RSU 50 superintendent’s office, as of Oct. 20, there were 332 students in the two Katahdin schools (181 at KES and 151 at KMHS), while SACS has 336 students in pre-K to grade 12.
A grassroots effort began to discuss the challenges facing the local school district. That effort led to a “LOCAL Focus Group,” which has worked to collaborate a withdrawal effort with the communities of Patten, Sherman, Mount Chase and Stacyville.
“We agreed at our first focus group meeting, that our efforts needed to be concentrated on moving forward,” said Richard Schmidt, one of the organizers of the group. “Everyone that has participated in our group has accepted responsibility for not being involved in the past, which in part almost cost us our local school on Jan. 21, 2016. We have since vowed to be part of a solution moving forward to help put us on a path to future growth and prosperity.”
RSU 50 serves 12 communities — Crystal, Dyer Brook, Hersey, Island Falls, Merrill, Moro Plantation, Mt. Chase, Oakfield, Patten, Sherman, Smyrna and Stacyville. The district is a combination of the former SAD 25 (Katahdin) and CSD 9 (Southern Aroostook) school districts and was formed in 2011 as part of the state’s push for consolidation at that time.
The district lies in northern Penobscot and southern Aroostook counties and is approximately 432 square miles, making it one of the largest geographic school regions in Maine.
“This group’s focus has and continues to be in the best interest of our children and region’s economic prosperity,” Schmidt said. “It is our belief that the only way we can effectively provide the best educational opportunities for our students is to withdraw from the current Regional School Unit 50 and form a new school system.”
One of the group’s main objectives is to make sure it has the ability to keep the two Katahdin schools open.
“Under the current RSU, this will always be a concern for us,” Schmidt said. A total of 432 square miles across our rural district makes it difficult to logistically and ethically coordinate further consolidation to one side of the district or the other. Although our schools may be safe for the time being, if we remain as an RSU, there is no guarantee that we will not find ourselves facing closure or further consolidation in the future.
““We believe this is the best avenue to creating a sustainable learning environment that is beneficial to our children and communities,” Schmidt said. “We believe we can still continue sharing administrative and educational services, which is a reasonable and constructive cost sharing approach while maintaining more efficient control over our budgets and buildings.”
According to the separation agreement, all land and property in the former communities of SAD 25 will remain with the withdrawing towns, who will have to form a new, smaller school district. In addition, the new district will receive a payment of $200,000 from RSU 50’s surplus account. This amount was the initial contribution made by SAD 25 when RSU 50 was formed.
An additional payment of about $240,000 (41.47 percent) is expected to be given to the new district by July 1, 2018, after the final audit has been completed.
Although separating, the two districts will continue to work collaboratively to provide transportation. A multi-year reciprocal agreement also will be put in place with the goal of maintaining community services currently shared between the two schools.
“This is of utmost importance to us,” he added. “The status-quo is no longer an option, and we cannot afford the consequences of not getting this right.”
