SAD 4 involved in regional high school planning

GUILFORD — A proposed regional high school, offering a number of vocational programs and college courses in addition to core subjects, involving many of the area school districts was given new life last fall. The local application moved up to second place from third on the state scoring funding list after a project based in southern Aroostook County was dropped.

There are many steps to go but a committee made up of the participating project school districts has been meeting for the planning process.

SAD 4 Board Chairperson Niki Fortier said some of the directors are new since the last project application was submitted, and she wanted to inform them about the process during a Jan. 12 school board meeting at Piscataquis Community Elementary School.

“Last night we had our second meeting about the regional school, it was pretty well attended,” she said.

SAD 4 joined SAD 46 of Dexter and the Milo-based SAD 41 in the application, which is non-binding for the participants. The project will be subject to future community votes on formal agreements, along with the Tri-County Technical Center in Dexter and the Greenville and Jackman schools via distance learning agreements.

Fortier said late last year that the second-ranked project in the Houlton area fell through, moving the local project up to No. 2. “Fort Kent has asked for an extension on theirs, but governance is the big issue for them along with the location of the school,” she said about the top-ranked application from the Fort Kent, Frenchville and Madawaska areas in northern Aroostook County.

In order to avoid similar obstacles later on in the process, Fortier said the local committee is discussing governance for a potential regional high school now. “Suggestions have been made, such as each town with a representative and one person, one vote,” she said.

The secondary institution governance could be set up like an RSU, and each of the existing school districts would remain to oversee the individual pre-K to grade 8 education systems. Fortier said the regional high school governing body could have a planned regular rotating chairperson and vice chairperson, as opposed to having the directors voting on the same individuals year after year.

Superintendent Kelly MacFadyen said the Fort Kent-based project had a regional service agreement for its governance. “It looks like the RSU model works best,” she said.

“We know that the location will be a very important part,” MacFadyen said. “It will take a lot of consideration so all the towns will be comfortable with the school.”

Fortier said an engineer will help determine the ideal site which needs a certain amount of acreage and would have access to 3-phase power and municipal water and sewer to help avoid additional project expenses for extending to these utilities.

“There’s a lot of stuff we’re working on and hopefully we tackle the big things first,” she said. 

The board chairperson said SAD 46 Superintendent Kevin Jordan has invited a representative of the Fort Kent project to the next committee meeting so members can learn more about the northern Aroostook County application process.

“I absolutely think student involvement is key,” Fortier said. She said there are some challenges as the facility would not open until after current high school students have graduated and younger pupils may not be able to fully grasp the concept of all the secondary institution could offer.

Fortier said another challenge could come from the community. She said she is a proud graduate of PCHS and while the school would no longer exist in its current form with the opening of a regional high school, “We need to get this done for the kids in this area.”

“This project would include at least two years of college access, so that’s good for the community,” MacFadyen said, as programs could be offered for more than just grade 9-12 students across the region.

“The other piece is it will double the number of [career and technical education] programs compared to TCTC,” PCHS Principal John Keane said. He said some of these classes would be sponsored by businesses, such as automotive repair courses/trainings offered by automobile dealerships.

Under the Integrated, Consolidated [grade] 9-16 Educational Facility Pilot Project, a regional comprehensive high school, or possibly two or even three schools, would be funded by the state with approximately ​$200 million set aside for the project(s). The facilities are intended to serve as a model for the rest of Maine by encouraging neighboring school districts with declining enrollments to work together to combine resources and reduce costs.

A school would offer a variety of academic programs from high school to college — through the University of Maine and Maine Community College systems — and training and certifications in various industries via a number of business partnerships. Similar education models are used in other states, including Massachusetts and Connecticut.

In other business, MacFadyen reported, “We started working on budget development at the building level and this week we started compiling for the budget committee.”

In her report MacFadyen wrote that teachers were required to get their budget requests to principals before the holiday break and the principals and other administrators are working on finances for the budget committee. Next month state funding amounts will be released and the superintendent is anticipating decreases in those numbers.

“We continue to remain green for our risk rating, which is awesome so we can continue with our in-person learning,” MacFadyen said. She said the state updates the rating every two weeks based on COVID-19 cases and outbreaks, and she anticipates Piscataquis County will remain green.

In his report, Keane said a meeting was set for the next week with music and art students to begin planning on a year-end showcase. He said the talents and artwork have been part of an annual cabaret late in the school year, but after not taking place last spring, there will probably not be an in-person event again in 2021.

Keane said a virtual showcase is a possibility, as was done with the music department holiday concert. He said the performance is available for viewing under the Live Feed menu option on the www.sad4.org homepage.