ROCKLAND, Maine — Eighty-four percent of people who responded to a survey have called for the Rockland area school district to reconfigure its schools.
And the majority of respondents support creating a ninth-through-12th grade high school and a sixth-through-eighth grade middle school, according to survey results released Thursday evening during a meeting of the Regional School Unit 13 board.
The survey conducted by the district of staffers and area residents during the spring showed that 177 people, or 61 percent of respondents supported that alignment.
Currently, RSU 13 has two high schools — one in Thomaston that serves eighth and ninth graders and one in Rockland that serves 10th through 12th graders. The district also has two fifth- through seventh-grade middle schools — again one in Thomaston and one in Rockland.
Superintendent John McDonald acknowledged during the meeting that it is difficult to have a consistent curriculum when there are two separate schools for the same grades in a single district.
McDonald said he will now begin meeting with his administrative team to come up with a proposed new alignment. The district will be meeting with municipal leaders (selectmen and city councilors) on Sept. 10 at Oceanside High School East in Rockland to get input from them on what the schools of the future in the district should look like.
Then in October, the administration will propose a realignment of the schools to the board. The superintendent said he would hope that the board would approve a plan in December in order to give the staff time to implement any change for the 2016-2017 school year.
The district has talked about realigning the schools for the past few years and the board voted two years ago to enact a single ninth-through-12th-grade high school and a single sixth-through-eighth-grade middle school. During the past year, the board has had significant debate on why such a change should not be enacted in time for the 2015-2016 school year.
Board Chairman Steve Roberts of Rockland said the goal of any reconfiguration needs to be whether the best educational model can be offered. He said that the board is not trying to win a popularity contest.
Board member Donald Robishaw Jr. of Rockland said the board needs to listen to the will of the people. He said that people will give up giving input to the board if it does not follow their wishes.
McDonald said he does not believe that fifth graders should be included in a middle school. He said from his experience teaching, he finds a big difference in the maturity between fifth and sixth graders.
The survey, which was responded to by 290 people, also showed strong support for having foreign languages in the elementary schools. This came out as the number one goal for new programs.