The story of Criehaven is the same as that of many Maine islands. In the 1940s, as funding dwindled, it became necessary to close the school. The children and mothers moved to the mainland to attend school while the fathers worked on the island. Eventually entire families made the move off-island to live near where their children went to school. A whole community was washed away, in effect, by the closing of its center: its school.
The Rural Schools and Community Trust found that throughout the country 60 percent of communities with schools saw population growth, while only 46 percent of those without schools grew.
Island and rural populations in Maine are very tenuous, but can only be strengthened by the schools in those communities. Young professional families move to Maine to be a part of the close-knit communities and quality schools that are a tradition in our state. How can we attract these families if the schools they desire are a dying breed?
“Students from small schools receive extremely personal attention due to the nature of the small setting, are very integrated into the community through their curriculum and they have an extremely high attendance rate,” says Dr. Gordon Donaldson, Professor of Education at the University of Maine. “Small schools that are using their funding creatively have the ability to give students a higher quality of education than larger mainland schools…if supported by their community and administration.”
The new state funding procedure known as Essential Programs and Services (EPS) has sent shock waves through Maine’s school districts, especially in coastal areas including islands and Washington County.
“EPS is designed to insure that all schools have the programs and resources that are essential for all students to have an equitable opportunity to achieve the Maine Learning Results,” says Susan Gendron, Commissioner of Education. “The EPS model provides a basis for adequacy and greater equity in the funding of K-12 education.”
A special adjustment to this formula specifically for island schools would give an additional 10 percent transition adjustment to the K-8 EPS rate for island elementary schools, and an additional 13 to 26 percent to EPS operating and maintenance costs, depending upon school level and size for islands operating schools. Finally, there would be additional transportation expenditures equal to approved transportation costs. All three of these cost adjustments would only be in place for one year to “ease the transition” to EPS-only funding.
In many cases, these adjustments simply are not sufficient to support the school.
Each island school will be affected differently by EPS due to the diverse nature of island economies and populations. Some will lose $25,000 in state revenue, some may even gain funding, while others may lose so much that they are forced to close their school altogether and students would have to be ferried to the mainland. Island-to-island, each situation is as unique as the schools themselves.
We know the strengths of a small community school, so why is there a buzz around the state that funding for small schools is on the chopping block? Because of the unique nature of each school, a cookie-cutter approach to distributing funding to Maine’s schools will simply not work for all of Maine.
“The state funding policy (EPS) appears to put the squeeze on our smallest — and often poorest — schools,” said Dr. Donaldson. “The rural communities served by these schools are increasingly being told: fund your school yourself if you want your children educated in community schools.” He went on to say, “47 percent of towns with resident enrollment under 300 were `losers’ as were 37 percent with enrollments between 301 and 499 students. By contrast, 15 percent of communities enrolling over 1,250 pupils lost funding (and only 8 percent of those enrolling over 2000 did).”
Anyone who lives on an island or in a small, close-knit community knows the importance of small neighborhood schools. These schools are a testament to what education should be: places where children are not left behind, and which have contact with everyone including the community as a whole. The community watches out for each and every one of the students. If Johnny got in trouble at school for something, by the next morning, everyone in town knows what he did and makes darn sure he doesn’t do it again.
And when the school day is done, schools are where the community gathers — to meet, to cheer the team, to share community meals, to celebrate holidays and special events. Small communities realize that if their school is in danger, so is the heart of their community.
Ruth Kermish-Allen is Educational Outreach Officer at the Island Institute.