Reduced enrollment, increasing costs spurs superintendent to recommend shutting down school
Bangor Daily News, March 22, 2007
(excerpt) At a meeting in 2001, residents voiced concern over both the declining enrollment and the increasing cost of sustaining the school. By that time, enrollment was half of what it had been 15 years earlier.
The school last faced the threat of closure in 2004, when Gendron announced plans to close the school in June 2005. The decision faced opposition from a number of parents who formed a collective called the Educating Kids Locally Support Group and successfully lobbied representatives, senators and education officials to keep the school open.
The reaction to Moreau’s announcement was mixed on Tuesday, with some expressing a desire to save the school and retain the benefits of its small teacher-to-pupil ratio and unique program offerings, while a similar number spoke in favor of shutting the facility.
Parent Lisa Ammerman said she couldn’t understand why the state wanted to close the school, since education costs in unorganized territories are funded solely by property owners in the territories. Funding does not come out of the state’s General Fund.
"Taxpayers in unorganized territories pay into a state fund to administer services in unorganized territories including education, so it is the job of the superintendent, Moreau, to use that money as effectively as possible for the education of children," Connerty-Marin said.
Ammerman also wondered what the projected savings to taxpayers would be once the school closed. "In the grand scheme of things, it won’t be much," Moreau admitted on Tuesday.
Again, Moreau stressed, he just could not recommend keeping the school open for such a small number of pupils when faced with the high cost of operating the facility. "It’s the kiss of death, I know, to Benedicta," he said of closing the school. "But I can’t help it."
(excerpt) At a meeting in 2001, residents voiced concern over both the declining enrollment and the increasing cost of sustaining the school. By that time, enrollment was half of what it had been 15 years earlier.
The school last faced the threat of closure in 2004, when Gendron announced plans to close the school in June 2005. The decision faced opposition from a number of parents who formed a collective called the Educating Kids Locally Support Group and successfully lobbied representatives, senators and education officials to keep the school open.
The reaction to Moreau’s announcement was mixed on Tuesday, with some expressing a desire to save the school and retain the benefits of its small teacher-to-pupil ratio and unique program offerings, while a similar number spoke in favor of shutting the facility.
Parent Lisa Ammerman said she couldn’t understand why the state wanted to close the school, since education costs in unorganized territories are funded solely by property owners in the territories. Funding does not come out of the state’s General Fund.
"Taxpayers in unorganized territories pay into a state fund to administer services in unorganized territories including education, so it is the job of the superintendent, Moreau, to use that money as effectively as possible for the education of children," Connerty-Marin said.
Ammerman also wondered what the projected savings to taxpayers would be once the school closed. "In the grand scheme of things, it won’t be much," Moreau admitted on Tuesday.
Again, Moreau stressed, he just could not recommend keeping the school open for such a small number of pupils when faced with the high cost of operating the facility. "It’s the kiss of death, I know, to Benedicta," he said of closing the school. "But I can’t help it."
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