July 01, 2011 1:24 PM
To the Editor:
Kennebunkport, Kennebunk and Arundel parents may be surprised to learn that fifth grade students from all three RSU21 schools (Consolidated, Sea Road and Mildred L. Day) will be going off to Thornton Academy Middle School (TAMS) this fall. Is that really true? Yes, it is.
What do these kids all have in common? They happen to live in Arundel. So off they must now go to an out of district school (TAMS) along with your tax dollars.
That is what you, as taxpayers, voted to do by declining to buy out the TAMS contract last month. Instead, the decision was not to provide every Arundel parent with a choice between TAMS and Middle School of the Kennebunks for their middle school education — and thus satisfying the individual needs of every Arundel parent.
Let’s look at the impact. Put yourself in an Arundel parent’s shoes for a moment. As a parent in Kennebunkport or Kennebunk with a fifth grader leaving Consolidated or Sea Road would you have preferred TAMS as your only choice or would having both MSK and TAMS as choices be your preference? After a careful investigation of both alternatives, wouldn’t you then decide based on what was in the best interest of your child?
However, the voters have spoken. Yet it is certainly not clear to me why middle school choice for Arundel parents was denied to them by the taxpayers in RSU 21. Never mind that significant RSU 21 cost savings were projected over the next several years by a decision for choice. Or was it simply that a VOTE NO ON TAXES sign was more appealing than the potential of those greater long term savings — with middle school choice ending up the loser?
In my view many voters either didn’t fully understand the consequences of their vote or were misled by those delivering fearful and misleading information. Otherwise, why would Kennebunk and Arundel voters deliberately choose to raise their own taxes via cost sharing?
Education of our kids is vitally important to this nation’s future! RSU 21 is one of the very best School districts in maine (per the Maine DOE). Each Arundel parent having choice will bring all three RSU21 towns much closer over time.
If given another opportunity in the future, I would hope that voters would reconsider their decision and give Arundel parents real choice.
Jack Reetz
RSU21 Board Member
Arundel
Jack Reetz
ReplyDeleteIt is abundantly clear that you still don’t get it. After reading your letter to the Editor stating you are not clear why middle school choice was turned down. There is a simple answer you refuse to listen to the majority of the Town you are suppose to represent. Simply opening your eyes that are clouded with MEA scores, there is more to a good quality education then MEA scores. Arundel High School students have had choice for a very long time. Around 90% go to Thornton Academy not to Kennebunk despite having the choice to go. That alone should tell you something but no you blame it on uninformed voters. You blame it on misleading information from me and a group of very informed voters. I can and will defend any information that we put forward as it was taken from the RSU or Maine Department of Education. I seem to remember some information put out by the RSU that was off by 900% sorry just a typo that was to late to correct I’m sure. Arundel knows the value of education and has always provided a great opportunity for its children. I get really tired and offended when you and others down play the quality of education Arundel has always provided. You see Jack it is you who is misinformed it is you that doesn’t get it. Arundel can and will do a great job educating its children it did before, during, and will after the RSU. If I was ever that out of touch with the people I was supposed to represent I'd reevaluate my position or resign.
David Lane
Saturday at 8:28pm
Mr. Reetz - I read your opinion piece in Seacoast. I feel disappointed in your thoughts, but feel more disheartened in its misleading nature. Even if all three towns voted to buy out the TAMS contract - Kennebunk and Kennebunkport residence would not have had the choice to go to TAMS - as you portrayed it in your analogy.
ReplyDelete"As a parent in Kennebunkport or Kennebunk with a fifth grader leaving Consolidated or Sea Road would you have preferred TAMS as your only choice or would having both MSK and TAMS as choices be your preference? After a careful investigation of both alternatives, wouldn’t you then decide based on what was in the best interest of your child?"
As the Arundel School Board representative - Please understand and be clear - We LOVE our school and our school is TAMS. If Kennebunk and Kennebunkport students were allowed choice as well - there would probably be some support in Arundel to consider a buyout. People tout choice - create REAL choice - Work on THAT.
Respectfully, Susan Sinnott-Curran
July 2 at 10:51am
Susan,
ReplyDeleteTAMS is NOT Arundels' school! TAMS is a school where we pay tuition to attend. NO PLACE in the contract does it say this school belongs to Arundel. In FACT, it clearly states TAMS is "A PRIVATE SCHOOL". Who is misleading who? It would make sense that we should call it our school since we are paying so much for it, but given it is a PRIVATE SCHOOL, it is not ours.
You are yet another person willing to back choice if it is for all 3 towns, yet refuses to support the wishes of some people in her own town. Why? Because you could realy care less about choice so long as yours is available?
David, You are right at the top of the list of the TAMS supporters as many of us know, so it is very easy to lump you in to the group using misleading information during the recent elections.
For instance, your support of NO on the budget to stop tax increases, was misleading as the budget is LESS than when we joined the RSU. We are paying more due to the state valuation and reduced state aid. Without the RSU we would have paid even more for even less.
Voting NO on the cost sharing was a vote yes for higher taxes as Arundel had the most to gain.
Using excess funds to allow students to choose MSK would have "most likely" kept more $$ in district thus saving into the future. Since excess funds were to be used, this would not have increased the budget.
I agree test scores are not the only barometer. We should be looking at the fact we are now compliant to the state mandates of RTI and Gifted and Talented. Both programs designed to help the challenged and challenge those who need to be. We should look at the improvements to the Library books, the addition of technology in each classroom, the addition of a foreign language, enhancements to core curiculum, additional teacher develpoment oportunities,teacher support and the improvements to the MLDay structure. (I hear no more water problems.) These improvements along with the much improved test scores, ALL with a reduced budget, leave me wondering why you are not more supportive of this RSU? Do you think we could have added all this value to the MLD School with a reduced budget, or do you think everything was fine prior and these enhancements were a waste?
So David, go ahead and begin to defend yourself and the NO/withdraw group. Or better yet, be a leader and work with TAMS to allow the "few" kids to attend MSK. Then again, if it were only a "few" kids, TA would likely have no problem letting them go in exchange for the tuition the district agreed to pay.
It's completely understandable why there are more Arundel students at TA than KHS. Especially for the last five years that our middle school students have been going to TAMS. If our middle school students were able to go to MSK, I have no doubt that those students will continue on at KHS. Its just common sense. The more students who continue on to KHS that is more $ that stays in the RSU to help control our taxes.
ReplyDeleteIf anyone states that MLDAY is no better off now than it was without the RSU has not stepped foot in our elementary school and should be embarassed to make such a statement. You are doing our hard working teachers a disservice and every child in that school who has given 100% effort to reach that bar that has been set so much higher than ever before. Maybe in the past Arundel just didn't care enough to do this on their own and I'm not willing to take the chance of going back to way things were. If you truly love our school, children, and town wouldn't you think the same?
Just one thing to say, the same teachers are at the school prior to consolidation, are the same very teachers teaching Arundel kids today.
ReplyDeleteNo I don't think the same as the post above me, nor will I ever. I can accept that.
I am not sold on RSU 21, and I am not sold on the consolidation law.
The bar wasn't raised just for the students, but for the teachers also. More accountability...
ReplyDeleteI believe Arundel knows now how we can improve education. The problem wasn't with the teachers, it was with the leadership. There is still more work to be done, and it can be done with or with out RSU 21. Apparently some board members don't want Arundel anyway, as seen while sitting in the audience, and watching televised board meetings. Consolidation has created a problem, and mended another. I think we can all learn a great deal from what has happened.
ReplyDeleteLeadership certainly was a big part of the problem, I agree. The other part was not adding much needed programs because the town of Arundel could not afford to do so. We could not afford a top notch principal and the much needed pay raises to our teachers. If Arundel couldn't afford it two years ago, how will Arundel afford it if the divorce goes through? Don't forget that all this happened with a lower school budget than when Arundel was on its own. Seems to me Arundel made out quite well until voters decided not to do due diligence and are now willing to throw it all away.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteOh Please!!! "If you think Stasio is going to sweep in and save Arundel, you're deluded. I wouldn't want that man near my finances *or* my child. " How ridiculous is that? are you saying that Mr. Stasio is harmful and would hurt your *child*? Because I am not aware of an *safety concerns* at TA or TAMS.
ReplyDeleteI am just wondering if that anonymous poster @ 7:58 pm has the initials of CM.
ReplyDeleteIf you had a child who was k-5 prior to consolidation your child would have gone to TAMS anyway. It wasn't a big deal until after consolidation and the State of Maine mandated school choice for Arundel because of the contract. I don't know what the big deal is, and everyone who has been here for a long time knows that TAMS was the school for middle school.
ReplyDeleteI do not know the initials of the anonymous poster @7:58, but my initials are CM. I did not write that post. As far as I know,I don't have any reason to worry about Mr. Stasio with my children. He runs a very profitable,successful business. I just don't view my childrens education as a business or what's best for the bottom line. That's one of my problems with TAMS.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous poster @ 10:04pm says,"If you had a child who was k-5 prior to consolidation your child would have gone to TAMS anyway." I have two points to say to that: You're right, we would not have had choice, but now we do or should have since we belong to an RSU that has a middle school that we spend our taxes on. Second, prior to consolidation I could have tuitioned my children to MSK for $760, but now I'd have to pay $8,200. That's a big deal.
I still believe that RSU21 is a wonderful fit for our town and our childrens education all while keeping my taxes under control. I know it shouldn't bother me to know that people think so little of me because of my choice, but it does still hurt.
As with any business, the business must deliver good product to stay in business. If the RSU didn't run as a business then we'd all be in the crapper.
ReplyDeleteRSU21 is running a business, but they are not in the business of making a huge profit.
ReplyDeleteAs TA isn't in the business for making a huge profit. The majority of TA's money comes from private funds. Something RSU 21 should think about to help offset tax increases.
ReplyDeleteThe majority of TA's money comes from private funds? The majority of the funds to operate the middle school comes from public tax $$ from Arundel. The majority of the funds to operate the high school come from public tax $$$ from Saco. No doubt TA has some private funding. But these off the cuff comments with no merit are what continues to divide.
ReplyDeleteThis comment is with no merit: "If you think Stasio is going to sweep in and save Arundel, you're deluded. I wouldn't want that man near my finances *or* my child.", or how about the cry for help at the Board of Selectmen's meeting for fear of safety at TAMS?
ReplyDeleteThe voters voted, and all of you keep thumbing your nose at the vote. Please don't forget that everytime you say that we voted with out knowing, you are telling us something that is false, and making accusations at all of us. Which is way too far from the truth. The information that I recieved in the mail on both sides of the issue, the yellow paper was truthful to what was going to happen, and how our tax dollars were going to be spent.
This whole issue should be a dead one, but Mr. Reetz, and that small few keep the issue alive. The vote was the vote, and if there is going to be any resolve this issue needs to be put to rest. One would suspect that Mr. Reetz will not get re-elected for that position the same as our last.
I'm not sure what the safety concerns are a TAMS. I will have to look into that.
ReplyDeleteWhen the school board voted to buy out the TAMS contract did the handful of people at the meeting who were against it just lie down and accept the vote? Why should you suspect the other side should do the same?
As for the yellow paper in the mail there were plenty of exclusions in it. The cost sharing formula would have helped Arundel. What was neglected to be mentioned was that this years tax increase was not because of the RSU but becasue of state evaluations. This increase would have been the same if we were on our own. Proof is at the statehouse. This year there still would have been a small savings. Since when is no savings better than a little? For those of you upset because the over EPS amount was still going to be assessed at 60/40, it was only for 13% of it.
" 2/3 of Arundel's tax increase is directly related to the RSU21 budget."
The majority of any towns tax increase is due to the school budget, Arundel is no exception.
"$1,186,099.20 would be better spent on other needs in the district or directly reduce the tax burden on all citizens in the RSU21 district."
Anyone who actually read the information on the buyout would have realized that if only 8 Arundel students went to MSK through 6th grade to 12th grade every year, all $1,186,099.20 would have been replenished. If more went, we would have brought in more revenue for your concerned tax budget. Instead all of it was spent on this coming budget to make you happy for one year. Now there is no replenshment.
"Tuition to TAMS is based on state average, $7,3600... Cost per pupil at MSK is $13,000."
There's a difference between tuition and per pupil cost. Of course you can make the the numbers look better for you. I noticed that transportation was added in this descrepancy but you forgot the big one...special education costs which is around $1m for our children at TAMS add that to your tuition and take out building maintenance, repairs, and capitol improvements on the MSK side, you're not that much lower than MSK. What capital improvements have been done for our middle school children, not high school, just middle school?
Maybe it is only a small handful who would rather go to MSK. There was no need to worry that TAMS would close. We belong to a town that allows school choice this shouldn't be an issue.
Thank you Jack, for giving me factual information, not half truths.
The $1M was a typo on RSU 21's part, and an e-mail was sent out there after to correct the error. Did you forget? What cost per pupil are you talking about? The cost per pupil at the State Level, or cost per pupil for the entire budget, 2 seperate #'s.
ReplyDeleteThe cost sharing formula was just the begininng, and it really isn't over. It's not over, because nobody will let it go.
RSU 21 AYP results, all schools in the district are on the monitor status either for reading or math, (which I am not going to type out which schools they are, or for what reason, but the point is, the schools are working toward better scores.) for not meeting the standards, excluding KHS which is labeled as a CIPS 2, or on hold, and MSK is labled as a Continuous Imporvement Priority School 1. Something to think about.
ReplyDeleteAyp is difficult to reach when you are already at the top. I wonder where TA would score. My guess is we don't know since they are a private school. If data is available please share.
ReplyDelete