LIMESTONE, Maine — During a March 15 meeting, in which the school board held an open discussion on the matter, Limestone residents discussed the possibility of sending their high school students to Caribou.
Limestone residents are no strangers to setback, as the impact of Loring Air Force Base’s 1994 closure still affects the town and surrounding communities today. Limestone recently took another hit when Sitel, a call center that employed about 200, moved its center of operations to Caribou in 2015.
Many in the community attended last night’s meeting to prevent another loss, and felt that closing the high school would take more away from the town’s identity.
Before opening the floor to public comment, RSU 39 Superintendent Tim Doak explained that Governor LePage’s numerous changes to ED 279 could result in over $1 million lost in school funding for the 2017-18 year. The superintendent said all RSU 39 communities (Limestone, Caribou and Stockholm) will save as a result of this transfer, adding that budgetary issues will worsen for the 2018-19 year.
Limestone resident Bob Edgecomb was part of a committee that looked into withdrawing from RSU 39 when they first mentioned the possibility of sending LCS students to CHS. Since looking into the withdrawal process, Edgecomb said the 33 step withdrawal process would likely cost the town more money than if they were to stay within RSU 39. (Staff photo/Christopher Bouchard)
“Governor LePage has proposed 48 changes to the school funding formula,” Doak said, adding that the governor is making these changes through the actual budget, and bypassing formal legislative means.
“I’m part of a national program, and at a recent meeting I sat with superintendents from New Mexico and Wisconsin,” Doak continued. “They’re each facing the same issues that we are here. These changes are not being made through the legislative process we should be using. It’s a movement across the country right now that’s affecting school funding.”
The superintendent broke down several aspects of the budget process, and how they negatively impacted RSU 39 communities. He first cited property valuations, along with a chart showing that total valuations for Caribou, Limestone and Stockholm, went up from $455,500 in 2013-15 to $461,165 in 2014-16.
“If property valuations slowly increase over time while student populations decrease, you will lose money as a district,” Doak said.
Doak also touched on revenue loss over the years, citing a $788,210 decrease in net Essential Programs and Services (EPS) funding and a $5,626 increase in the local share for RSU 39 towns for the 2017-18 year.
If Limestone were to move their high school students to Caribou, Doak said there would be a $600,935.26 savings for RSU 39 communities, with the most significant line item being a projected $441,921savings related to secondary instruction.
After breaking down the RSU’s financial situation, Doak opened the floor for public comments.
Limestone resident Fred Pelletier said the town can’t afford to lose much more than it already has.
“Limestone has lost a great deal already,” Pelletier said. “We continue to lose, but this town has a high school, and, when that goes, people will move. And where do you think they’ll go? They won’t set roots in the town of Limestone, they’ll go somewhere that can support a K-12 system. It’s going to affect the economy of this town if we keep losing stuff. Somewhere along the line, we’re going to have to draw a line in the sand and say we don’t want to lose. I don’t want to lose anymore. We’ve lost enough.”
“I fully understand that,” Doak said, “and I don’t want the kids in this high school to lose any more opportunity than they have already. There’s no AP, no upper level science, and no upper level math. I care about the town, but I don’t want the kids to lose any more than they’re already losing.”
One audience member suggested that, since the school would lose its extra curricular activities and sports team, students would turn to drugs and likely fail their classes.
A current LCS student expressed concern that Caribou students would consider Limestone students outsiders if they were to go to the neighboring community high school.
“Even if we change the name (of Caribou High School), there are still cliques in high school,” the student said. “There will still be Limestone and Caribou kids. That’s just how it’s going to be.”
Doak responded that all but two of Limestone’s high school teachers will be at CHS.
“You will know somebody over there,” Doak said, “and it will be an adult.”
Limestone resident Art Thompson posed a number of questions to the school board regarding this decision and its impact.
“We don’t have veto power over whether we keep our high school,” Thompson said. “Now we’re forced into making a big change.”
Thompson also asked about the possibility of Limestone withdrawing from RSU 39.
“You’d have to go through a withdrawal process, start a petition and obtain signatures equal to a tenth of the voters last referendum, and send that to the commissioner,” Doak said. “It’s just like divorce, there are things you have to give up. You’d have to manage school on your own, hire a principal and superintendent, and pay for busses and transportation.”
“That way we choose our own destiny,” Thompson said.
“Absolutely,” said Doak, “and you have every right to do that. The other thing is that if we don’t look at our own destiny with this transfer to Caribou, someone could come in here and say you have to do X, Y and Z or it’s going to cost you so much money.”
One audience member asked if the board has ever considered closing preK-8 in Limestone, effectively shutting down the entire school.
RSU 39 Chairperson Tanya Sleeper said the board never considered this.
“It has never entered discussion,” Sleeper said. “We understand the importance of keeping a school in the community. We have not discussed that, but can’t say with 100 percent certainty that it will never go on the table if there was a huge out-migration.
“Next year could be even worse than this year,” board member Ron Willey added.
Limestone resident Bob Edgecomb, who was part of committee that investigated RSU 39 withdrawal when the matter first came to Limestone in 2015, said the town’s problems would continue even if they independently managed their own school.
“We researched what it would cost us to leave RSU 39,” Edgecomb said. “If you think they’re in a bad financial position, we’d be in the same situation as towns like New Sweden if we withdrew. It would be a 33-step process to withdraw, and the state can approve or disapprove the request.
Edgecomb added that the committee’s initial intent was to leave RSU 39.
“We did the research, and Superintendent Doak worked with us and listened to us,” Edgecomb said. “I believe that it would be devastating if we left, and cost us a lot more money.”
Doak, in a March 14 interview, said that if RSU 39 takes any action regarding the transfer of students, it would likely happen during the next board meeting in early April.
