Citing anticipated declining student populations and high per-pupil costs, Maine Gov. John Baldacci recommended the consolidation of school districts and unions in his Jan. 20 State of the State speech.
The governor has cited eight school administrative districts with fewer than 250 students as ideal areas for consolidation. Four of these districts – North Haven, Matinicus, Vinalhaven and Swan’s Island – are island schools. Other island schools are part of School Unions, looser organizational systems sharing a superintendent.
The Governor’s Task Force on Increasing Efficiency and Equity in the Use of K-12 Educational Resources recommended disbanding unions in favor of larger regional districts and cooperatives. The only island schools that are not immediate targets for consolidation are Peaks, Cliff and Chebeague, as they are all run by larger mainland school districts (Portland and Cumberland, respectively).
Baldacci’s plan would be the largest and most ambitious change in educational structures since the Sinclair Act of 1957, which created School Administrative Districts in Maine. The new districts and cooperatives envisioned in the plan would receive financial incentives based on their size: the larger the district, the greater the financial gain.
The Governor’s plan comes at a critical time for Maine schools. With a projected 12 percent decline in student population over the next ten years, the cost of schooling per pupil is $900 over the national average. The proposal would potentially lower costs of schooling, and further savings could be gained by regionalizing transportation, using combined buying power for purchases, hiring specialists, and reducing staff. The plan also would improve educational opportunities for students by sharing the costs of special education, extended early childhood education, vocational programs, and advanced learning opportunities. The Baldacci administration believes by combining resources, consolidated school districts could lower administrative costs while offering a greater range of educational services. “It’s better for the taxpayers and better for the students,” Baldacci said.
There is little evidence, however, that this proposal would actually save money. David Silvernail, vice-chair of the task force, commented that “we don’t know what the administrative savings can be … it is, for a certain amount, a leap of faith.”
Other states that have implemented similar district consolidations have not yet seen financial benefits. In Arkansas, costs actually increased per-pupil after consolidation. Montana anticipates consolidated school districts will require higher property taxes to support them. Michigan offered financial incentives to districts that reorganize, then determined it could not afford to offer them. “Maine’s funding for the financial incentives for consolidation and regionalization has not been determined yet,” said Jim Rier, Policy Director for School Funding at the Department of Education and a task force member.
Island schools are clear targets for consolidation because they are small with a high cost per pupil. The majority of island schools have fewer than 50 students, making them among the highest cost-per-pupil schools in the state.
While these schools are expensive to run by the task force’s measure, island districts tend to receive minimal funding from the state Department of Education. “We receive little funding because we have high tax values,” said George Joseph, Superintendent of SAD 8 (Vinalhaven). “We’re spending over $2 million to run the school, and we receive approximately $60,000 from the state, not including our debt service.” Other islands receive comparable funding, with support from the State typically covering only 10 percent of the total cost of running the school.
The task force believes, however, that consolidating districts will lower costs by reducing the number of superintendents and administrators working for a district.
Island schools already run on minimal administration. Most have part-time superintendents who are paid a stipend or a small salary. Bruce Ives, Monhegan’s superintendent, said, “I visit the school once a month. I have no staff and no office. If Monhegan consolidated with another district, it might save a few dollars, but there certainly wouldn’t be tremendous savings.”
Equity
Financial savings aren’t the only component of the governor’s plan. The Task Force report also states that district consolidation and regionalization can help make all schools more efficient and equitable. Education Commissioner Susan Gendron supports the proposal, as she believes small schools cannot provide adequate educational opportunities for students.
“We have learned over the past thirty years that we need to provide different curriculum and programs to all types of children,” she said. “In geographically isolated schools, the cost of running the schools is climbing dramatically. I’m seeing more and more that our taxpayers can’t sustain the cost of education.”
Ironically, the one-size-fits-all education Gendron is opposed to is least likely to be found in small schools. Much of what educators identify today as “best practices” for schools originated in small, rural schools. “Cooperative learning, multi-grade classrooms, intimate links between school and community, interdisciplinary studies, peer tutoring, block scheduling, the community as a focus of study, older students teaching younger ones, site-based management, and close relationships between teachers and students,” writes Joyce Stern in The Condition of Education in Rural Schools. “All characterize rural and small school practices.”
Research has also suggested that small schools and districts are safer, with higher graduation rates and lower dropout rates than large schools. Parents and community members participate more at small schools, and teachers and administrators have more positive outlooks than those in large schools. Teachers are able to have personal, close relationships when student populations remain low.
Despite national research to the contrary, the governor’s task force report states, “there is evidence that larger school districts may achieve the same or better results as the smaller ones.” By the state’s own measure, no island school has been identified as “In Need of Improvement” under the federal No Child Left Behind program’s standards. In fact, Peaks Island School, North Haven Community School, and Islesboro Central School have all been cited as “High Performing” by the state.
In 2001, all island high schools had higher graduation rates than the statewide average. The same year, 100 percent of North Haven graduates intended to enroll in post-secondary education, compared to a state average of 66.41 percent. Notes the Islesboro Central School on its website, “with a teacher-student ratio of 10:1, it is almost impossible for a student to ‘fall between the cracks’ as sometimes happens in a large school setting.”
Educators on a number of islands are designing and implementing community-centered lessons. Islesford teachers are working with the Lobster Tales project to design lessons that can be used by teachers nationally. North Haven students create in-depth independent projects every year that they present to the community at a ‘Knowledge Fair.’ Cliff Island students are designing PowerPoint presentations describing their community as part of a collaboration with Bowdoin College students. “These small schools are some of the most creative, high quality, and innovative places of education in our state,” writes state Rep. Hannah Pingree (D-North Haven).
The Task Force report claims that vocational education, kindergarten programs and special education services could be improved with regionalization.
Yet if such programs are feasible on an island, they’re probably already occurring. Vinalhaven and North Haven share a satellite vocational program with the Mid-Coast School of Technology, known as the Fox Islands Facility. Students in this program learn marine trades. Both schools have used boats built from this program to start school rowing programs. Vinalhaven’s program was nationally featured in WoodenBoat magazine.
All island schools offer kindergarten, regardless of the size of the school. What makes early childhood programs stand out on islands, however, is the community’s strong commitment to providing the programs. Frenchboro, seeing a declining population on the island, recruited new families to move there. When the population of young children increased, the island created a preschool program. With a formal endorsement from the town, a grant from the Maine Community Foundation and support from community organizations and residents, the preschool opened this fall.
Some islands don’t have daily ferry service during the winter, thereby requiring visiting teachers to stay overnight. Other islands have a lengthy ferry trip from the mainland. “I don’t know how regionalization will help,” said George Joseph, the Vinalhaven superintendent. “There’s still a three hour ferry ride round-trip or a flight to the island to get a specialist here. Consolidating won’t solve the problem of geographic isolation.”
By consolidating small schools within a larger regional district, the chance for equal and fair service is significantly reduced. “If Vinalhaven consolidated with a regional school district, it would be hard to maintain equity,” said Joseph. “School Administrative Districts are based on one person, one vote. Mainland towns are so much larger than islands, and majority rules. It would be difficult for island schools to be well represented.”
“Consolidating island school districts would be a crime,” said Thomas Marx, superintendent of North Haven Community School. “On any small island, the school is central to the identity of the community. If you regionally consolidate and lose the school, it would destroy the spirit and identity of the community.”
Danielle Hall is an Island Institute Fellow on Cliff Island.