The topic of school regionalization often raises issues that divide stakeholders, but there is much that we can agree on. The Maine Department of Education is having wonderful conversations with school leaders about how to better serve students.

We all agree that student enrollment is declining in most areas of the state; we have excellent teachers, but a shortage of them in many areas; our rural children cannot access the same quality of education as children in more populated areas; and poverty and adverse circumstances are barriers to learning for many students.

Furthermore, we can agree that schools are serving more students with behavioral needs than ever; special education costs are among the highest in the nation; and Maine’s work force needs young people with proficiency in math, reading and writing and who can problem solve, think creatively, work as part of a team, and demonstrate the core skills employers need by being professional and customer-oriented.

If we can also agree that every student has a right to an education that helps them thrive in career and life, then we must agree that finding efficiencies and opportunities in the expenditure of more than $2 billion to make exactly that educational opportunity available to every student is a moral imperative.

Many school leaders are responding to this urgency by taking advantage of recently enacted school regionalization legislation, adopted as part of the governor’s biennial budget and fall under the department’s EMBRACE initiative. Conversations with these leaders are marked by ingenuity, excitement and hope that even small changes can make big differences for students.

To encourage more of these conversations, I would like to clear up a couple of misunderstandings that have recently circulated in the media.

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One such misunderstanding is that the Maine DOE will leverage financial penalties on any School Administrative Unit (SAU) that chooses not to become a member of a regional center. In actuality, if two or more SAUs do form a regional center, the SAUs will be given additional funding. This allocation is an incentive to find ways to direct more money to students; it is not a penalty since no money will be deducted from subsidies due to a failure to form a regional center. Moreover, the legislation provides the most flexible, locally driven, voluntary regionalization initiative ever put forth by an administration.

Our recent conversations indicate that many districts will be able to take advantage of the incentive. Also important to note is that subsidies allocated for teaching and learning will result in an overall increase in funding for most SAUs, whether or not they choose to join a regional center.

Another misunderstanding about the regionalization effort is that the initiative could “isolate Maine’s special ed students” and make an “easy target” of the inclusive classroom. While well intentioned, these cautions are not warranted by what is occurring.

Nearly half of the regionalization grants awarded to date have provided improved experiences and services to students with special needs. These students could not otherwise access the kinds of environments, activities and educators they need to fully participate in their education and were often being transported far away at great expense or were at risk of dropping out. Far from isolating students, these regionalization projects have brought students closer to home and provided an environment in which they can prepare emotionally, socially and academically for their futures.

Within the realm of special education there are many possible ways to save money, and this is only one realm. Our conversations with superintendents include innovations in other educational realms, including magnet schools strategically located to support or attract businesses and families to help grow the regional economy, regionalizing physician services for rural children who need medication authorization, implementing a regional STEM coach for teachers, sharing costs for educator evaluation components, leadership academies and satellite CTE programs, just to name a few.

If we can agree that the purpose of public education is to prepare all students to thrive, let’s have the challenging conversations that lead to that end.

Robert Hasson Jr. is commissioner of the Maine Department of Education.


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