SAD 17 super calls for bright ideas to battle bleak future

OXFORD HILLS — In order to face down what he calls “the new reality of education in Maine,” SAD 17 Superintendent Dr. Mark Eastman plans to form a special committee and charge it with drafting a rescue plan for uncertain economic times.

The “broad-based” group — to include school directors, staff, parents, local business leaders and students — will be modeled on the “Fabulous 50” committee which, almost two decades ago, drew up plans for Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School.

“They designed, I think, one of the most effective delivery models for secondary education in the country,” said Eastman, at the most recent school board meeting.  “Can we do that again — take the talent that is on this board, and in this community, to envision a district-wide approach to education for the next generation?”

Eastman said this new “visioning group” should look back to the founding of SAD 17 40 years ago, examine all the “lessons learned” since then, and then try to imagine what the district will look like 40 years from now, in the year 2050.

The reason for peering into the crystal ball is clear, said Eastman — it’s because the present is so cloudy.

Although recessions have come and gone before, Eastman says, "we have a sense that things are going to be different this time.”

“The state’s budget shortfalls are anticipated to continue for the foreseeable future,” he said.  “As we look at school funding, we have the belief that the resources that we now use to maintain our current configurations and staffing patterns won’t be there.

“We are equally clear that the local economy will not support a shift form state to local resources in order to maintain current levels [of spending],” he said.

Eastman pointed out that, even in a flush economy, the funding model used by the state to redistribute tax dollars does not land equitably in all places. 

The "essential programs and services" (EPS) funding model used by the Department of Education doles out money for teachers based on total district enrollment.  For a district like SAD 17, which long ago chose to keep an elementary school in each of its eight district towns, that means some schools have classes with fewer than 10 students, while others have up to 25. 

Meanwhile, anything above the number allowed by the state must be borne by local tax dollars.  Districts that have larger, regional schools make out, says Eastman, because they can more easily shift students and teachers to even out burps in enrollment.

Transportation also is a bugaboo for SAD 17.  As Eastman often says, the district is Maine’s largest, at least in terms of pure geography covered by school buses each day.

In spite of the common Maine saying, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” Eastman's message to the school board emphasized that, where public education is concerned, the time to fix it is not after it’s finally broken down for good.

“Without changes in the way we are doing the education business, we will not have the resources to meet our academic goals during these challenging times,” he said.

Eastman asked directors to merely mull over his suggestion for a visioning committee.  However, to get their creative juices flowing, he offered up a number of starter ideas.

Thoughts aimed at addressing transportation include “clustering” students by assigning each to the school closest to his or her home, rather than defaulting to the one in each child’s hometown.  SAD 17 also might lower transportation costs, and address overcrowding at Oxford Hills Middle School at the same time, by turning some elementary schools into K-8 institutions.

Eastman also said SAD 17 might rely on technology to create “virtual educational experiences” via distance learning, or online classes.  Despite Maine’s recent spate of school consolidations, the district also should continue to partner with neighboring districts on “delivery of service,” wherever possible, said Eastman.

Then there was one idea which already has drawn statewide attention. 

In a public hearing, January 26, the state legislature’s education and cultural affairs committee considered a bill submitted by H. Sawin Millett, Jr. (R – Waterford) that will allow schools to open for classes just four days per week.  The bill (LD 96) stipulates only that students must continue receive instruction on par with the current 175-day minimum requirement.

Eastman acknowledged in a recent interview that the bill was submitted at his behest.  However, he denied that a change is in the offing without significant input from parents and staff.

“I’m not really thinking that it’s realistic to do this, even next year,” he said.  “Right now, I’m merely looking at mining these ideas, exploring them, channeling them.”

Eastman said all alternative calendar ideas are on the table, whether that means shifting vacation weeks, extending the school year or playing with daily start and end times.

Millett’s bill was necessary to advance debate, Eastman says, only because it is the one possibility which Commissioner Susan Gendron claims to have no authority over.

“That’s the one thing we need the legislature’s approval on,” he says.

The education committee will consider the bill next on, February 9.

In the meantime, Eastman says he’s looking for feedback on his visioning committee idea.  Depending on the response, he says, he may unveil more information at the next school board meeting, also on February 9, or at the following session, March 2.

When Eastman finished his presentation, directors met his call for questions with 45-seconds of dead silence.  Finally, Don Gouin, of Norway, mustered the courage to speak.

“Mark, I think you’ve frightened us,” he joked.

Eastman admitted that the task he’s set forth is a mighty big one, especially in light of his imminent retirement, effective “no later” than June 30, 2010.

“You may say, this doesn’t sound like someone who’s going out the door,” Eastman told the school board.  “But, whether I’m going out the door, or not, it’s imperative that we begin these discussions, and that we begin to think differently, because I don’t think we can count on the revenue stream that we have had.”