The establishment of an independent school district in Wiscasset has had unforeseen complications. Some of those complications have included communication about school cancellations, delays, and early releases between RSU 12 and the Wiscasset school district.
The transportation of Wiscasset students from outside the district in inclement weather has been another unforeseen challenge.
The geographic distance between Wiscasset and RSU 12 schools has caused winter weather to impact the two districts differently. This has caused Wiscasset’s and RSU 12’s school cancellations, delays, and early releases to fall out of sync.
Long before the first day of winter, inclement weather has caused confusion for Wiscasset students attending from out of district.
“We had an issue this year with people not understanding that Wiscasset had its own school system,” Lyford Beverage, interim superintendent of schools in Wiscasset, said. “RSU 12 didn’t operate so they didn’t send their kids here.”
Following the Nov. 3 storm, which caused RSU 12 to cancel school while Wiscasset remained open, Beverage circulated a memo reminding students and parents that RSU 12 cancellations did not mean that Wiscasset schools were cancelled.
“We didn’t know this was going to be a problem,” Beverage said. “Now that we know, we’re trying to address it.”
Wiscasset schools use a robocall system to inform families when there is a delay, early release, or cancellation. The approximately 50 children from Westport Island and Alna who attend Wiscasset schools, however, still receive RSU 12 alerts, John Merry, director of operations for both Wiscasset schools and RSU 12, said.
Merry is responsible for the busing operations of both RSU 12 and Wiscasset. He is on the roads at 3:30 a.m. during storms, driving bus routes and talking with road commissioners to determine if it is safe to bus children to school in both districts.
According to the RSU 12 withdrawal agreement, RSU 12 is responsible for busing children who choose to attend school in Wiscasset.
The majority of those children live in Alna and Westport Island. The RSU 12 buses for Alna and Westport Island are housed in Wiscasset, Merry said. “We need to do a little bit better with letting Alna and Westport Island folks know what Wiscasset is doing,” Merry said.
According to Merry, on days when RSU 12 announces a delay or cancellation, he receives upwards of two dozen phone calls from parents trying to find out if Wiscasset schools are open.
“Until the two districts get together and organize this a little bit better, those calls will continue,” Merry said.
“It gets very tricky,” Howard Tuttle, superintendent of RSU 12, said of coordinating snow delays, early releases, and cancellations with other school districts. “Every storm is a little bit different and has its own unique challenges.”
Tuttle said communication with Merry is an essential part of his decision-making process in whether to open or close schools in inclement weather. RSU 12 uses a Honeywell instant alert system that individuals can sign up for to notify families of snow days, delays, and early releases.
Due to the geographic distance between Wiscasset and parts of RSU 12, out-of-sync early releases have posed their own challenge. One day in December, RSU 12 had decided to close early. Wiscasset schools had not.
Tuttle and Beverage made the decision to release Wiscasset students that live in an RSU 12 town early so that they could make it home safely. Eventually, Wiscasset decided to close schools early that day as well, eliminating the need for the special arrangement.
“This is something we try to work on to make sure that things are covered,” Beverage said. “But we don’t get it right all the time. It’s human. It’s not perfect.”
