Future involvement with NEASC

By Stuart Hedstrom
Staff Writer

Milo school board opts out

MILO — Citing finances and the time commitment needed by teachers and administrators, the SAD 41 School Board opted to discontinue its association with the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) when the current 10-year accreditation period for the Penquis Valley School expires in 2017. The school board was not scheduled to make a decision during its Sept. 2 meeting, but the directors felt they were ready to take a vote after hearing from district administrators.

NEASC is a regional accreditation agency, which establishes standards for secondary schools and colleges. Institutions that attain NEASC standards can then be certified as such and are able to use the NEASC logo on school letterhead and paperwork.

“It’s really all about time and money,” Superintendent Michael Wright said, saying he believes SAD 41 officials are already carrying out some of the NEASC criteria. “How can we as a small school do NEASC — it’s not state mandated — along with all of the things that are state mandated?”

“We want to look at is it going to impact our students positively or negatively,” Assistant Superintendent Stacy Shorey said, adding Piscataquis Community High School in Guilford, Mattanawcook Academy in Lincoln and Nokomis Regional High School in Newport all have opted to discontinue associations with NEASC in recent years.

“Their students continue to attend the college of their choice,” she said.

“We have talked to the schools that have dropped it and there’s no change,” Wright said as college options have not been limited for students graduating from these high schools. “Being accredited is a comfort for the community,” he said. “It’s a myth that’s out there.”

Accreditation is attained through a multiple-day campus visit by NEASC officials. Wright said this visit would cost the district about $17,000 as well as approximately $3,500 per year over a decade for a total process cost of $52,000.

“We aren’t saying it means nothing, we are saying it does mean something,” Wright said. “What we are saying is it worth it based on all the mandates we have to do now.”

Penquis Valley School Assistant Principal William Vigue said he taught at Nokomis when the school dropped NEASC. “The reality is the district that I came from took the money and invested it in teacher development,” he said. “I think it made my old school a better school,” Vigue added, saying SAT scores and teacher accountability were both improved at Nokomis.

Board member Roberta Trefts, a math instructor at Husson University at Bangor, said Husson just completed its accreditation through NEASC. “It’s incredibly, incredibly time consuming,” she said, such as many forms having to go back and forth between the school and organization.

“I’m not sure the process is worth it,” she said about Penquis Valley continuing with NEASC.

“I think the smaller schools are a disadvantage,” Vigue said. Shorey added that teachers would likely need to be pulled out of the classroom to work on NEASC components, and Wright said several years’ worth of teacher training days would need to be devoted solely to the process.

Board member Chad Perkins said he felt ready to make a decision that evening, and he motioned that a NEASC vote be placed on the agenda. The eight directors present voted unanimously to add the item and then voted 8-0 to discontinue the affiliation.

In other business, Brownville Elementary Principal Carol Smith said a letter has been sent to parents informing them of a change in bus notes for the new school year. Parents are asked to send a signed note if a bus drop-off will be different than normal, with phone calls sufficing in the event of an emergency.

“It is much safer,” she said.

Perkins said he has had some conversations with parents about the new procedure. “By having that note it says where they can and can’t go and it protects the district — it’s a good policy to have,” he said.

Penquis Valley Principal Jeremy Bousquet said he is continuing to try to find potential age-appropriate projects across the four SAD 41 communities that can be carried by an entire grade during a day of service, which he hopes to have scheduled during October. Those with ideas or seeking more information can contact Bousquet at 943-7346 ext. 100 or jbousquet@msad41.us.

Bousquet said he has talked with the Three Rivers Kiwanis about the possibility of sponsoring colored T-shirts for each grade during the day of service. “Hopefully if you drive through the community you will see a rainbow of shirts everywhere,” he said.