Overcoming isolation, and other Maine education news

Tuesday's vote on Question 3 consumed the energy of many in Maine's education communities. Now that the outcome is decided, what's next?

First, with the consolidation law staying on the books, it looks like at least one more district merger will move forward. Voters in the Rangeley area voted on a district merger Tuesday to make much of Union 37 a regional school unit. Four of the six Union 37 communities approved the merger, according to the Daily Bulldog. That means the other two towns, Lincoln and Rangeley plantations, remain standalone units that will likely tuition their students into the regional unit's schools.

In the aggregate, the merger -- which takes effect July 1, 2010 -- brings Maine's number of school districts down to 215 (from 218), something of a victory for the state Department of Education. It could also be a victory from the state's perspective because Union 37 was among the three isolated regions exempted from school district consolidation requirements by a special law this past spring. Here's an example of a reorganization that took place by will, not by force.

At the same time, the new merger means the Department of Education is letting the average sizes of reorganized school districts slip. The department has touted the fact that reorganized districts enroll, on average, more than 2,100 students. The four-town, Rangeley-area district will have 209 students, according to Oct. 2008 enrollment data.

Second, Brian Hubbell has some interesting information regarding the geographic breakdown of Tuesday's Question 3 vote on his Web site.
The statistics draw some valuable, county-by-county conclusions between
exemptions from the merger requirements and opinions on Question 3.

Third, in Maine's higher education world, the University of Maine System is looking for a new president for the system's Fort Kent campus. Richard Cost, the current president, plans to retire at the end of the academic year.

"UMFK’s next president will be a leader of not only educational opportunities in Northern Maine, but also a partner in economic and cultural development for the St. John Valley area,” Richard Pattenaude, the university system chancellor, said in a statement.

Fourth, a pivotal moment is in the offing for the University of Maine System. System trustees meet Nov. 15 and 16 to approve a final restructuring plan for closing the university network's structural deficit. At the same time, more immediate budget matters might also come up.