To the Editor:
I am absolutely appalled that two of Wiscasset outstanding citizens would denigrate the excellent Wiscasset School System with remarks in a letter to the editor like “…we have a dramatic outflow of students leaving the Wiscasset School System…”, “Our facilities are in need of extensive repairs…”, “Our academic achievements are trending downward…”, “There is little motivation for the other towns to invest in Wiscasset High School…”, “Wiscasset pays 35 percent of the RSU budget with only 24 percent of the students…”, “Wiscasset taxpayers are subsidizing the taxes of a number of the other towns…” “Our school system…used to be a magnate for young parents and businesses…negative factor…property tax burden…declining test scores and reputation…”, “…enrollment continues to decline…curriculum cuts…low…expensive student to teacher ratio…”.
Is it any wonder, with the statements above, that parents of 28 Wiscasset students would elect to pay for tuition costs to send their students outside of the Wiscasset School system and parents of 13 Wiscasset students would elect to home school their children in 2010-11?
Last week I pointed out that WHS was one of the two top receivers of capital improvements in 2011-12 – improvements that Wiscasset residents had turned down before consolidation. In 2010-11 the only recipient of a major capital improvement was the WMS when the walk-in cooler and freezer were replaced at a cost of about $40,000. Wiscasset would not do it – RSU 12 has and they continue to support a strong capital improvements review – RSU 12 is not hesitant to make “life-safety” repairs promptly when potentially hazardous conditions are identified. Where does “There is little motivation for the other towns to invest in Wiscasset High School…” and “Our facilities are need of extensive repairs…” fit in this picture?
WHS had a combined SAT score of 1512 in 2006 when only college bound students took SAT exams. In 2007, when Wiscasset was in control, it was 1364 and it declined to 1335 in 2008. In 2009, as a part of RSU 12, it was 1347, in 2010 it was 1352. “…achievements are trending downward…”?
In the 3-8 classrooms in WPS and WMS the new NECAP test scores beat the ever rising bar of “No Child Left Behind” (NCLB) criteria except for the 5th grade where the value of the bar was unrealistically high compared to the 4th grade and 6th grade values. State wide, a majority of the schools in Maine will not meet the NCLB criteria this fall.
For the WHS graduation class of 2010 73 percent of the 52 students went on to higher education (compared to 67 percent nationwide) and 2 percent went on to serve our country in the U.S. Military. Hopefully the remaining 25 percent have joined the local service companies we all depend on and they have not left the State. Where does “Our academic achievements are trending downward…”and “…declining test scores…” fit into this picture?
There have been no curriculum cuts since Wiscasset joined RSU 12. Instead new programs (Response to Intervention (RIT) a student focused program to address individual student needs, Everyday Math, stronger emphasis on science at WPS, “Schools for Excellence” program (one of five in the State) to enhance student achievement, new programs for special needs students – to name a few) have been added to enhance student achievement.
RSU 12 has accepted the low student to teacher ratio at the WHS to provide multiple programs and thus increase the attendance and with 35 seniors last year and 61 in the freshman class this year progress is being made. The WHS brochure clearly points out the superior curriculum offerings of WHS when compared other area public and private high schools. Where does “…curriculum cuts…” fit into this picture?
The Wiscasset resident WHS student population has decreased from 261 in 2007 to 148 in 2011-12 due to the demise of the Maine Yankee Power Plant. Meanwhile the WHS student attendance has gone from 212 in 2008 (pre-consolidation) to 214 in 2011-12 while there has been a 113 high school student reduction in the Wiscasset population.
Meanwhile 37 out of 95 Westport Island students and 69 out of 156 Alna students attended schools outside of the Wiscasset system (2010-11 student data). Of the 106 students attending the Wiscasset System from Alna and Westport Island, 33 attended WHS in 2010-11. Student enrollment has been relatively stable since Maine Yankee was demolished, so where does”…enrollment continues to decline…” actually come from?
The total cost for education for the eight towns in 2008-09 (pre-consolidation) was $28,519.808. The first RSU 12 budget (2009-10) was $26,109,947, $24,879,360 in 2010-11, and $25,103,272 this school year.
Our administrative cost is 2.1 percent of the budget (2008-09 Administration budget was in excess of $1 million dollars and has been reduced 40 percent to about $600,000) while the State average is 3.25 percent.
In 2010-11 the dollars per resident student (the latest such data available) budgeted to educate each town’s students are as follows: Wiscasset – $14,596, Alna – $11,363, Chelsea – $11,110, Somerville – $10,346, Windsor – $10,105, Westport Island – $10,054, Whitefield – $9,517, and Palermo – $9,213. With an RSU-wide average of $10,788, Wiscasset received 35 percent more per student than the average and 58 percent more than Palermo.
“Wiscasset pays 35 percent of the RSU budget with only 24 percent of the students…” because of the high cost of the Wiscasset School System that RSU 12 inherited and since they receive 35 percent more per student it would appear the current formula may be correct. With RSU 12 providing 35 percent more per student than the average for RSU 12 and 58 percent more than Palermo where does “Wiscasset taxpayers are subsidizing the taxes of a number of the other towns…” fit in?
As I stated in my remarks on Oct. 26, it will cost Wiscasset residents about $2 million dollars more if they withdraw from RSU 12 unless drastic measures are taken to depart from the system that existed when Wiscasset joined RSU 12 and continues today. My goal is to preserve the current, outstanding Wiscasset school system for Wiscasset, Westport Island, and Alna students.
It is time for the facts to prevail.
Richard DeVries
Westport Island
