ROCKLAND, Maine — Consolidating school buildings, adding gifted and talented programs, and offering world languages at the elementary school level were among the many recommendations that came out of a 90-minute brainstorming session of school board members and district administrators Thursday night.
No consensus was reached on the proposals, but Regional School Unit 13 Superintendent John McDonald told participants that reaching an agreement was not the goal of the evening’s meeting. He said he was looking for ideas to be offered, which then could be put out to the staff and public.
At the end of the meeting, the recommendations were printed on large sheets of paper taped to the wall of the Oceanside East High School cafeteria. Then participants were given five colored stickers each to mark which proposals had their support.
The recommendations with the most stickers by the end of the evening were consolidating the two high schools into one, consolidating the two middle schools into one, and keeping at least the kindergarten through fifth grade classes in the individual communities.
Also receiving support were proposals for adding a gifted and talented program, restoring world languages to the elementary grades and adding pre-kindergarten classes.
RSU 13 has two high schools: Oceanside High School East in Rockland, which serves students in grades 10 through 12, and Oceanside High School West in Thomaston, which serves eighth- and ninth-graders. The two schools are 5 miles apart.
The two middle schools being eyed for consolidation are Rockland District Middle School and Thomaston Grammar School, which are 4 miles apart.
In April, the board voted unanimously not to merge Rockland District Middle School and Thomaston Grammar School. Board members already voted in August 2013 to merge the two schools by September 2015, but they said in April that not enough information had been presented to them to pursue the merger yet.
The closure of the Gilford Butler School in South Thomaston had been supported in a nonbinding board vote at the same August 2013 meeting. Gilford Butler serves students in kindergarten through second grade.
The proposals to consolidate are expected to save money, which district leaders have said could be reinvested into programs.
World languages were eliminated from the elementary grades at the start of the current school year because of budget cuts. The gifted and talented program also has been pointed out as being inadequate by school officials.
The school board will discuss the recommendations at its Dec. 11 meeting. A series of public hearings will be held throughout the district to collect feedback and recommendations from the public.
Last month, McDonald said he hoped to have the recommendations completed soon, as the district is set to begin its budget development for 2015-16.