Message from the Superintendent
It is my pleasure to welcome you to the homepage for Maine School Administrative District #51, Cumberland / North Yarmouth, Maine. Our mission is to educate all students to meet or exceed the district's defined academic standards. MSAD #51 has embarked on a journey of transformation through a systems approach of organization development. We encourage you to visit our district and share with us any of your thoughts or ideas.
Dr. Robert Hasson, Superintendent of Schools
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October 27, 2008
Dear Neighbor:
Last year, Peter Bingham started a very good practice of communicating regularly to you on MSAD 51 news. While I am not as avid a writer as Peter, I am going to follow this practice to try to keep you informed of MSAD 51 news from the School Board chair perspective.
As you might expect, Consolidation has dominated this fall. The School Board, along with Superintendent Bob Hasson and Finance Director Scott Poulin, held public forums in Cumberland and North Yarmouth. Bob has met with teachers and the PTO. Both Bob and I spoke on Consolidation at the Lions Club this week. The School Board student representatives, Haley Chandler and Will Hemond, made presentations on Consolidation to high school students last week. I have also written a letter to the Forecaster which went into the details of consolidation, including cost savings. We have also posted a brochure on consolidation on our website at www.MSAD51.org and which follows this letter.
Throughout our sessions on Consolidation, the Cumberland and North Yarmouth citizens have been largely positive about our consolidation plan. Our citizens seem to understand that joining forces with like minded towns can create critical long term savings and educational advantages. In Falmouth, the reverse has been true - with many Falmouth citizens expressing concern about losing control in a 3 way district.
Given the apparent resistance to consolidation in Falmouth, we are still focusing on a positive vote in North Yarmouth and Cumberland in order to avoid penalties and to maintain the additional state subsidy that will go to those districts that support consolidation. At last week's Maine School Management Association's annual meeting, we confirmed with Commissioner Susan Gendron, again, that, even if Falmouth votes "No," a "Yes" vote on consolidation in Cumberland and North Yarmouth will result in MSAD 51 avoiding penalties.
If there is a "Yes" vote in Falmouth and with the combined vote of Cumberland and North Yarmouth, then we will move quickly into arranging elections in January 2009 for the new district's school board and we will move into the transition planning for starting up a new district in July 2009.
If Falmouth votes "No" and Cumberland and North Yarmouth together vote "Yes" on consolidation, then we will file an alternative plan with the Commissioner which will allow us time, without penalties, to investigate potential consolidation with Yarmouth, Freeport, Pownal and/or Durham.
For all of us on the School Board and on the administrative team, the vote on November 4 will be a great relief, as we will then know what path we are on.
While consolidation has dominated our agenda this fall, our School Board is dealing with several very exciting and positive developments.
We now have two student representatives on our School Board. Haley Chandler is the Senior Class representative and Will Hemond is the Junior Class Representative. The presence of these two students on our board brings a very valuable student point of view to our work. And we very much hope that the school board representatives help support Principal Chris Mosca's focus on "Student Voice" in all areas of the high school.
The Administrative Team pulled off the amazing act of opening up the new high school wing in time for the start of the school year. The contractors are now focusing on renovating the areas of the existing high school, including new windows, improvements on the heating system, work on the pool, and other improvements. In a few weeks, the 50's wing will be demolished and the main vehicular access to the new high school wing will be opened through the area where the 50's wing is now located.
With everything that is going on, Bob Hasson and Scott Poulin have done an amazing job overseeing the high school construction project. The work has been under budget and everyone who has been in the new high school has noted the beauty of the new space.
The high school is also gearing up for the start of the new International Baccalaureate (IB) program that will start next year. The IB program offers a more probing curriculum that demands more in depth thinking and learning. When our Curriculum Director, David Galin, our Principal, Chris Mosca, and a panel did a presentation two weeks ago on IB, over 100 parents and students attended the presentation. Many of our high school teachers have now been trained in IB, and there is a strong ripple effect as the excitement of this new program takes hold in the high school.
Our School Board has several new initiatives that are in the early stage.
School Board member Jim Bailinson is creating a committee to look at nutrition in all of our school lunch programs.
School Board member Bob Vail is working on energy conservation initiatives and has joined up with the “Cool Cities” group to look at energy conservation.
We also have a standing committee working with the administrative and guidance teams on the subject of "Life After Greely." While the committee has not yet defined the scope of its work, we are focusing on issues of how to better prepare Greely students for success and fulfillment in both their post secondary education and their careers. As part of this effort, we are reviewing the programs that we currently have in the Middle School and the high school for career development. And we are looking at how to respond better to those students who would rather not be at Greely. So, stay tuned on this one as we sharpen our focus.
Our finance committee has also met and is gearing up for a challenging budgeting year. We have postponed the long term bond financing on the high school construction project to allow the financial markets to recover so that interest rates will come back down to historical levels. Given that energy costs and a flat state subsidy will create substantial budgeting challenges, we are moving forward with planning on utilizing tuition students to create new revenues.
We are also celebrating "Bus Driver Appreciation Week" As you put your child on the bus, take a minute to say "thanks" to your child's bus driver. The bus drivers in this district are very professional and concerned about our kids and we should let them know we appreciate them.
So, to wrap up this letter, I want to borrow a play from Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots. Two weeks ago, when the Patriots were beaten badly by the Chargers, Coach Belichick's response in the next week's practice was to emphasize the importance of having fun. The players needed to laugh a bit, shrug off the bad plays, and celebrate each other's efforts on the good plays. As the economy and the state policies on school funding keep us looking right and left for the next hit, we need to laugh a bit more and give ourselves a high five when we do good things with our schools.
So, vote on November 4!!
Dave Perkins, MSAD 51 School Board Chair
Dear Residents of North Yarmouth & Cumberland,
The following documents provide MSAD #51 and Falmouth School Dept. consolidation plan information. You will find additional information under the Regional Planning Committee link located to the left. We are available to answer questions and we hope you will vote on Nov. 4th.
Sincerely,
Dave Perkins, MSAD #51 School Board Chair
Susan Campbell, MSAD #51 School Board Vice Chair
Bob Hasson, MSAD #51 Superintendent
1. FAQs
FAQ Proposed New Casco Bay District 9 22 08 3.pdf
2. Public Hearing Presentation
Pr New Casco Bay School Dist 9 24 08.pdf
3. Cost sharing information
Consolidation Cost Sharing Comparison.pdf
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