BELFAST - The Regional School Unit 20 board of directors made a rough list of long-term objectives at a special meeting, Oct. 22. The goal-setting session is an annual procedure for the board, but concern about a possible school reorganization plan drew a crowd of parents and residents hoping for a chance to weigh in on the subject, or at least get more details.

They got neither.

”I was astounded that the board voted against letting the public speak,” said Caitlin Hills, a Belfast parent and school board candidate. Hills attended with her son and had encouraged other parents to come to the meeting in hopes that a large turnout would prompt the board to amend the agenda and allow for public comment.

Hills said talk of a possible consolidation at the last meeting had got parents riled up, and she believed the inclusion of district goals on Tuesday’s agenda warranted a public discussion of consolidation plans. 

“Parents want to know what [the board is] thinking, and want the board to know what they’re thinking,” she said.

Roughly 30 people attended the meeting. A vote beginning of the session on whether to allow public comment failed.

Belfast City Councilor and former school board member Eric Sanders seemingly set the rumor mill in motion over the weekend with a post on the Friends and Supporters of Belfast Area Schools Facebook page encouraging residents to arrive early to sign up to speak.

“No chance for the Public to even weigh in before they vote on consolidation,” he wrote. “The School Board has the ability Tuesday night to force through a vote for Consolidation.”

The terms “consolidation” and “reorganization” have been used to describe any plan that would cut costs by having fewer school buildings. The district has seen declining enrollment in recent years and closing schools has been debated repeatedly as one of the few substantial ways a district can save money.

Last spring the board voted to send students from Stockton Springs Elementary School to Searsport in order to rent the elementary school to the private social services provider Broadreach Family & Community Services.

Frankfort Elementary School was considered for closure several times before residents voted last year to leave the district and join neighboring MSAD 22. Other small schools with low enrollment have survived because of outstanding construction debt that would have negated any savings realized by closing the school.

Asked if proposals for reorganization exist, Superintendent Brian Carpenter said they do but they are not ready for public presentation.

“Right now it’s just numbers on paper,” he said. “There’s no [detail concerning] staff, impact on student achievement, impact on towns...” 

Carpenter said his plan is to put forward six proposals. These would be made public in December, he said. Asked why he would not address it sooner given the speculation and anxiety among some parents, Carpenter said he didn’t want to release incomplete proposals.

“Just putting out this, this and this is not doing the public a service,” he said.

RSU 20 Board members put forward around a dozen general goals for the district:

• Resolve new contracts with teachers and support staff (Anthony Bagley) — The district just finalized a new teacher contract in January, but the agreement, which was the first to unify teacher salaries under the consolidated school district, took four years of negotiations to resolve. As a result, the contract is currently in its final year. Bagley said he hopes to start negotiations in January 2014.

• Tally and attempt to reduce the number of students who are home-schooled or attend private school (Dorothy Odell) — When students opt out of the public school system the district loses money in the form of state aid. Odell didn’t mention money, except to say that public school is free. “If people don’t choose public education, there a reason for it,” she said, adding that the district should give it a closer look.

• Discuss and possibly enact a district-wide consolidation or reorganization (David Ferguson and others) - Several board members offered their thoughts on the topic. Alan Wood said there’s “no higher task” than to create a three-to-five-year plan for the schools. Stephanie Wade said there may be innovative strategies that other districts have used. She recommended the board look nationwide for options could save money while improving education. Tony Swebilius said the board needs to approach any reorganization in a way that involves the community and considers the effect on education.

• Look at education goals, concepts and procedures and consider improvements (Alan Wood). Stephanie Wade added that the district should look at the effect of poverty on students’ success in school.

• Increase the graduation rate/decrease the dropout rate (Anthony Bagley)

• Consider moving away from the traditional industrial model of eduction toward one that encourages innovation (Dorothy Odell) - A similar sentiment was expressed by Sharon Catus, who noted the shift in Maine from mill towns to high tech industries. She gave the example of a student at a school in Southern Maine who was sleepwalking through the minimum requirements until she got switched on by a new offering: a class in robotics. “I realize we’re dealing with cuts, cuts, cuts,” she said, “but around those cuts we have to find a way to foster student aspirations.”

• Increase class sizes in the district (Stephen Hopkins) - Hopkins cited a survey of Belfast High School in which he found 24 classes with fewer than 10 students. “We might even have to change what we offer,” he said.

• Work to get the district’s two high schools on a common schedule (Stephen Hopkins) - Hopkins noted that Searsport is on a four-block system while Belfast uses a six-block system. Bagley said similar discussions have been ongoing at Waldo County Technical Center, which draws students from Belfast, Searsport and Mount View High School in neighboring RSU 3. He described coordinating the school schedules as a “huge undertaking” that might require reducing graduation requirements and/or dropping classes.

• Search for alternative revenue sources (Tony Swebilius)

• Start an annual self-evaluation by the RSU 20 board of directors (Anthony Bagley) - Suggested to be done in April or May in order to give new members time to get up to speed and avoid conflicts with budget meetings.

• Review the food service program (Stephen Hopkins) - Cost and scheduling were the principal issues raised by Hopkins. Bagley suggested the board look at the food service program as a whole.

• Keep municipal officials informed of school district business (Valerie Mank) - Mank said she tries to update the Searsmont Select Board monthly. By contrast, she said she was surprised to witness a Belfast city official unable to name the city’s school board representatives. “I’m not sure what people are doing out there,” she said, “but I can assume from the PR problems we’ve had in the last couple years there’s no communication at the local level. So if we could pick up that, that would be great.”

Ethan Andrews can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com