A student who lives near the Jefferson-Whitefield town line – with a street address in Jefferson but a house in Whitefield – may not attend Jefferson Village School, according to the Jefferson School Committee.
The Rollins family pays property taxes on the Atkins Road house to Whitefield and pays taxes on an outbuilding to Jefferson, according to Town Administrator Lynne Barnikow. The house is entirely in Whitefield, with an entrance and street address in Jefferson.
Kara and Ron Rollins met with the Jefferson School Committee on Monday, Aug. 5 to discuss their situation and request a one-year superintendents’ agreement to allow their child to attend JVS if the committee does not recognize the family as residents of Jefferson.
A superintendents’ agreement allows a student to attend a school outside the district where the student lives.
“It requires both superintendents to agree to it,” AOS 93 Superintendent Craig Jurgensen said.
Jurgensen said there is some confusion about the difference between superintendents’ agreements and open enrollment.
“Open enrollment allows a student to move between schools within AOS 93, whereas a superintendents’ agreement is for a student to move between different school districts. It all comes under the umbrella of school choice,” Jurgensen said.
Ron Rollins said a JVS bus passes the family home, while RSU 12 will not provide transportation to Whitefield Elementary School.
He said he owns property and pays taxes in Jefferson and feels a superintendents’ agreement could resolve the issue.
“I’m not asking you to send my kid for free. I pay taxes as much as other people in Jefferson,” he said.
School committee member Wayne Parlin cited the school’s policy on students who live out of town.
“I sympathize with you and your struggles, but your residence is where the land is deeded, and that is in Whitefield,” Parlin said. “If we based school on where you pay taxes, people in Augusta with dwellings on Clary Lake or Damariscotta Lake could come here, and as our reputation grows positively, we are expecting more people to come to our school, and that’s why we have this policy.”
The school committee formed a subcommittee to look at nonresident enrollment in December 2018. Parlin had expressed concern about nonresident enrollment during previous committee meetings.
“I’m concerned the class sizes could get to a tipping point,” he said in December.
The school committee adopted the policy on admission of nonresident students in June. It lays out the circumstances in which the school will accept nonresident students on either a tuition or tuition-free basis.
“The goal is to keep it limited to real special needs situations,” Parlin said Monday.
The policy gives the school committee authority to verify the residency and guardianship of students and allow for nonresidents to attend the school on a tuition basis.
Jurgensen said JVS is unique within AOS 93, as the district’s other schools have not recently looked into similar policies.
“It’s on the policy agenda for (Great Salt Bay Community School) as a routine matter,” Jurgensen said.
Ron Rollins disagreed with Parlin, saying he lives at his property year-round and believes a residence is where someone spends their time.
Kara Rollins said she sleeps at the Jefferson address “365 days per year.”
“Mailing address is not residency and that’s the bottom line,” Parlin said.
Parlin said he is not sure of the law about student transportation, but thinks Whitefield has to provide transportation of Whitefield’s students to Whitefield’s public elementary school.
Jurgensen said it depends on the school district’s transportation policy.
JVS Principal Lynsey Johnston said that since the road – Hilton Road on the Whitefield side – ends in Jefferson, Whitefield Elementary may not be required to send a bus through.
Committee Chair Al Vorhis suggested that Rollins speak to the Jefferson Board of Selectmen.
“That’s probably the best bet. I talked to you and I feel really bad. I understand your situation and don’t understand why Whitefield can’t pick your kid up,” Vorhis said.
Ron Rollins said the issue is already on the agenda for the selectmen’s next meeting.
Jurgensen said the family could also appeal to the Maine Department of Education.
The school committee went on to other matters before returning to the residency issue later in the meeting.
Committee member Walter Green-Morse called the matter emotionally charged, but said the committee needs to try to take emotion out of it.
“The family who came in was very emotional, but unfortunately you can’t think of it with emotions,” he said.
Greene-Morse said he believes the family’s legal residence is in Whitefield and the issue of transportation to Whitefield Elementary is a matter for RSU 12.
“That has nothing to do with us, nor does it meet requirements for a superintendents’ agreement,” Greene-Morse said.
Greene-Morse said that if some large grades continue to grow at JVS, the school committee will have to hire more teachers.
Greene-Morse said he would feel differently if the student had attended Jefferson for several years, but he feels the school’s policy is clear.
Committee member Maria Solorzano agreed that the couple’s legal residence is in Whitefield.
