It has been only a year since the directors of School Administrative District 51 proposed that fourth and fifth graders be removed from Chebeague’s school and sent to the mainland. Their obvious tone-deafness to island concerns produced results, and fast: within weeks, Chebeague’s secession movement organized itself and went to work.
That the movement is close to success at the Legislature (a committee is recommending that Chebeague’s secession bill be approved, and a vote could come just as this newspaper is being printed) is a real testament to the island community’s determination, good planning, leadership and hard work.
Of course Chebeague has been an independent-thinking place for a long time. In 1821, when Chebeague was still part of North Yarmouth, islanders signed petitions to become part of Cumberland. Ten years later a move to leave Cumberland failed but, notes island historian Donna Miller Damon, “the idea of leaving the Town did not die with the vote, and was contemplated by islanders whenever a disagreement occurred between the mainland and Chebeague.”
Another outburst of independent thinking didn’t result in a secession movement, but it could have: in the late 1990s a group of Chebeague residents learned that Nabisco planned to stop baking its venerable Pilot crackers, a staple of island chowders and Sunday suppers for a century or more. Suffice it to say that with the help of a few newspapers (including this one) and other media (including the Today Show) they forced Nabisco to capitulate.
Chebeague has no monopoly on independent thinking or secession, of course. Long Island broke away from Portland 15 years ago after deciding it could deliver services to its residents more humanely and efficiently than the city could. The doubters who came out in force at that time, assuring everyone that the cost and labor involved in running a municipal government on a small island would surely crush a new town there. The islanders proved the doubters wrong.
Chebeague’s independence movement has benefited from sheer hard work. As we report in this issue of Working Waterfront, islanders worked out an agreement with the Cumberland Town Council last January concerning the boundaries of a new town; what Chebeague would reimburse Cumberland for lost property taxes; and how it would help cover its share of Cumberland’s debt. Next, there were negotiations over schools, resulting in an agreement last February to take over the island school from SAD 51 while preserving the right to send island kids to high school on the mainland for the next seven years. These agreements were in hand when the island secession representatives arrived at the Legislature to plead their case.
If the positive comments by legislators from other parts of Maine who spoke at the State and Local Government Committee’s hearing on Chebeague’s secession bill mean anything, it would certainly appear that the islanders’ hard work and determination have paid off. Those with doubts should contact Nabisco.