(excerpt) SAD 68 directors have five options regarding the disposal of the Morton Avenue Elementary School and the district office building when the new elementary school opens in September 2007.
Those options, outlined in a letter to Dover-Foxcroft selectmen, were mentioned at the board's meeting on Monday.
SAD 68 Superintendent John Dirnbauer said the district could do any of the following... Read the whole thing!
A SAD 4 committee could vote this week whether to send to referendum a change in the school-funding formula requested by Abbot residents.
The committee was organized after a petition signed by 300 people - mostly Abbot residents - asked that the district begin a process to amend the local education cost-sharing formula.
Abbot residents think they are shouldering about double the per-pupil cost of other communities of similar size and want the local additional funds assessed solely on per-pupil costs without factoring in municipal valuations.
(excerpt)Recognizing the benefits of prekindergarten schooling, SAD 46 directors voted Wednesday to explore offering it.
An ad hoc advisory committee will be formed of parents, educators and residents to determine the public's interest in such a program and its development. The committee will be expected to report its findings to the board in December.
The discussion is timely because the district is proceeding forward on a plan to construct a new elementary-middle school, Superintendent Kevin Jordan said Thursday.
"I think prekindergarten is very important," Jordan said. "We have to begin these discussions now as we look forward to the new school."
Jordan said it is well known that most children who have been enrolled in a prekindergarten program, whether private or public, are better prepared for kindergarten than youngsters who have been in day care.
He guessed there could be about 30 children eligible for the non-mandatory program.
(excerpts)Governor Mitt Romney vetoed a bill yesterday that would require the state to develop prekindergarten education programs for every Massachusetts child age 2 to 4, saying the proposal was too costly and unproven. The bill, which unanimously passed both legislative houses, would create school programs for all children beginning at age 2 until kindergarten. Some education specialists believe such early classroom programs pave the way for future academic success. But Romney said he wanted to wait until the results from an ongoing $4.6 million prekindergarten pilot program in Massachusetts, which concludes in February of 2007. ``Before we create an expensive new burden on Massachusetts taxpayers, one that could lead to future tax increases, we ought to await the results of the pilot program, particularly as it relates to the cost of a large scale expansion," he said in a statement. Under the bill, state education officials would have to make prekindergarten universal, much like K-though-12 education. They could combine programs run by local school districts with Head Start early education programs and programs offered by licensed child-care centers to create a statewide network. The bill allows for the prekindergarten programs to first be established in low-performing school districts, based on MCAS scores. Romney said the costs of such an expansive program would be considerable.
The Maine Department of Education has discontinued its news "clips" service, formerly available at this page. Hence the link in the previous article no longer works, as do the links in numerous posts at the "Voters" site.
We'll attempt to continue to provide links to articles of local interest here, though it remains to be seen how the practical details will work out.
(excerpts)The agenda includes information from attorney E. William Stockmeyer, of Drummond Woodsum & MacMahon of Portland, about what can be done with the old RES school building on West Street, which is to close when students move to the new building. ... Stockmeyer wrote to Superintendent Pat Hopkins on Aug. 10 that the school district has five options if the referendum succeeds and students leave the old Rockport Elementary School East, built in 1952.
For one, SAD 28 could decide to keep the building and “keep the facility closed for possible future use.”
The district could also choose to lease it at a fair rental value and if so, there “must be a reasonable likelihood the building will be needed again for educational purposes.”
Or SAD 28 could just give the building and land back to Rockport, which owned it before the school district was created in 1964. Stockmeyer wrote that SAD 28 might be able to charge the town for the three additions built since that date.
If Rockport doesn’t want the building, SAD 28 could sell it. In that case, Rockport would get “the net sales proceeds attributable to the original RES East building,” after the district subtracts its own costs of the sale. The net proceeds must be deducted from Rockport’s share of current SAD 28 costs.
The district could also choose to demolish the building, but would need to get approval from Rockport and Camden voters of SAD 28.
This is a site for posting articles of interest to those concerned with education in Maine, and especially to readers of the Voters of MSAD 46 blog.
Articles will be posted with excerpts. Click "link" at the bottom of each post to connect to the full original article. Signed comments are encouraged!
