SALEM TOWNSHIP — Residents of Maine School Administrative District 58 will be given a printed survey at the polls Nov. 8, seeking their thoughts on the future of the district.
The Future Planning Committee comprised of members of the board of directors will meet Nov. 2 to create the survey, Superintendent Todd Sanders wrote in an email. It is important for the people to have their voices heard, he said.
The committee includes Adam Bilodeau of Avon, Kim Robinson and Kim Jordan, both of Kingfield, Sue Pratt, Jessie Stinchfield and Kathleen Doyon, all of Strong, and Joe Ford and Brian Donovan, both of Phillips. It is assigned to review the needs of the district and budgetary matters.
Sanders said the committee met Monday night at Mt. Abram High School, where selectmen from multiple towns discussed the future of the district. Among the topics were concerns over property taxes. No decisions were made, he said.
“The committee plans to survey district citizens to find out what they believe the best option is for future changes,” Pratt said.
The district underwent a reconfiguration this year, after many years of discussion, Sanders said.
“We originally had three (prekindergarten) through grade (eight) schools and Mt. Abram High School,” he said.
This year, there are two prekindergarten-through-grade-four schools, Kingfield Elementary and Phillips Elementary; a grade-five-through-grade-eight middle school, Day Mountain Regional Middle School in Strong; and Mt. Abram High School in Salem Township, he said.
“This allowed us to decrease staffing and increase our class sizes to be better in alignment with the (state) of Maine school funding formula. We obviously won’t know the full impact of these changes for a while,” Sanders said.
The new configuration has been in effect for nearly two months.
“At this point the majority of feedback the district has received has been positive,” he said. “There are obviously some growing pains and concerns that have been raised around transportation and scheduling, which we have and will continue to work on.”
The best interests of the students will continue to be the priority, he said.
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