When Maine Gov. John Baldacci proposed reducing the number of school districts in Maine from 290 to 26, his proposal was greeted with a firestorm of protest from parents, teachers, superintendents and concerned citizens across the state. Nowhere was that opposition more vocal than in Maine’s year-round island communities, which support 14 multi-grade schools whose survival is closely linked to the survival of the communities themselves.
When the Maine Legislature convened a day of citizen testimony on various consolidation proposals on Feb. 5, island school supporters came out in force, rallying in Augusta under a “Save Island Schools” banner, and telling legislators in no uncertain terms why island schools require unique solutions.
Clearly, their message was heard. In news reports following the day’s nearly 10 hours of hearings, the concerns of small island and rural schools were cited again and again as evidence of the statewide backlash against the governor’s plan.
“We have worked too hard to save our community to lose control of our school,” Donna Damon of Chebeague told members of the two legislative committees considering the consolidation proposals. Chebeague, which is poised to become independent from the mainland town of Cumberland on July 1, would be part of a Portland region “mega district” under the governor’s plan. Damon pointed out that saving the island’s school was at the heart of the island’s secession bid. “If [the Cumberland school board] didn’t listen to us, what makes you think a huge megadistrict would work?,” Damon asked legislators.
Every Monhegan Island resident who was present on the island when a petition protesting the governor’s plan was circulated signed a document urging Gov. Baldacci to withdraw his consolidation proposal. A delegation of Monhegan citizens delivered the petition and a sheaf of written testimony to Augusta, and several island residents testified at the hearing.
Preserving local control was cited as critically important by all of Maine’s island communities that testified, including Monhegan, which supports a one-room, K-8 school serving seven students. Currently the state contributes only one percent of the Monhegan school’s $150,000-a-year budget. With the governor’s proposal, “we are being asked to sign our rights away,” islander Kathie Iannicelli told the lawmakers. “We are asked to give up local school boards, local control of tax dollars, and accountability to local taxpayers. We are being asked to give up ownership of our school.” She made it clear that Monhegan will not do this without a fight.
Following the Feb. 5 hearings in Augusta, the Maine Islands Coalition met in Rockland on Feb. 9 to discuss the unique qualities of island schools and to consider possible alternatives to Gov. Baldacci’s proposal. Coalition members, which include an elected representative from each of Maine’s year-round island communities, heard presentations by six panelists with various perspectives on the consolidation issue. Coalition representatives were joined by other interested islanders for an intense discussion of various consolidation proposals that lasted from the morning into the afternoon.
Panelist Geoff Herman of the Maine Municipal Association cautioned the group that “if communities don’t come up with their own [alternative], there may be a mandatory result from the Department of Education.” Mike Moore, whose Maine Public Spending Research Group conducted schools research for the recently published Brookings Institution report on Maine’s economic future, told the group that K-12 education is one of two areas severely squeezing the state’s budget. School administrative staffing has ballooned by 4,000 jobs at the same time that the state has lost 13,000 students, he noted.
George Joseph, Superintendent of the Vinalhaven School, reminded attendees that most island schools receive very little money from the state to run their schools, which operate with strong community financial support and with staff, administrators, and community volunteers who are willing to fill multiple roles to help the school survive.
After 40 years on North Haven, principal Barney Hallowell of the North Haven Community School said the Governor’s proposal has raised the fear “that North Haven will be forced into a solution to accommodate policy that won’t be good for the kids or the community.”
The two state legislators on the panel, Sen. Dana Dow (R-District 20) and Rep. Leila Percy (D-Phippsburg) noted that the drive to consolidate school districts is being spurred by the ongoing public outcry over escalating property taxes. Even with that pressure fueling the debate, both acknowledged the fragility of island communities, the unique characteristics of island schools, and the impracticality of imposing a statewide solution on Maine’s 14 island schools.
While no single alternative emerged from the day’s discussions, the Maine Islands Coalition ended the meeting with a pledge to work with the Department of Education to ensure that island schools — and the communities whose survival depends on them — are preserved and protected.
Kathy Westra is the Island Institute’s director of communications