The Belfast area’s public school district had a long-term superintendent for the first time in two years when classes began last week.
Liz Ridgeway was hired in December after two years as principal of East Belfast and Weymouth elementary schools in the district, RSU 71, and started in July.
She arrived after a long period of transitional leadership and amid several long-term challenges, including the future of the district’s five elementary schools — one of which narrowly escaped closing earlier this year with a split board vote in March — and costly upgrades to its athletics facilities.
Those subjects will continue to be discussed by the district board in the coming years, she said; Ridgeway also aims to make the school’s support networks more cohesive, involve community organizations and serve staff to provide a great education and maintain the cultural significance of public schools.
“Education in Maine is very special,” she said. “We still hold it as kind of a cultural center of our communities, and so that was an important factor for me to be in Maine, and then to be in Belfast.”
RSU 71 includes Belfast, Belmont, Morrill, Searsmont and Swanville, with local elementary schools, Troy Howard Middle School and Belfast Area High School. It was led by interim superintendent Bob England for the last two years following the retirement of Mary Alice McLean.
Ridgeway, who taught in schools across the country before returning to Maine, always knew she wanted to become a superintendent.
“I think it was just seeing all of the good work that was being done among schools and recognizing that we had the opportunity to align that work, to recognize what people were doing and just making it a little more cohesive over the coming years,” she said of applying for the role.
Ridgeway plans a focus on viewing the “whole child” through the district’s support systems and staff, making sure work isn’t duplicated and opportunities to help students aren’t missed.
For example, a reorganization of elementary school administration has one principal oversee the elementary schools, with an assistant principal in each building, instead of numerous principals splitting their time. That’s also a benefit for student safety and means an administrator is present day to day, particularly as students now consistently need behavioral support, according to Ridgeway.
Declining enrollment has long driven conversations about potential closures among those schools as budgets — and by extension, property taxes — rise. Earlier this year, the board decided against closing Swanville’s Kermit Nickerson school.
Those decisions are largely board-level, Ridgeway said, but the schools are “very geographically dispersed” and the district is trying to make sure all students get the same experience. Facilities are aging and need repairs, but reorganizing education comes with its own costs, requiring a balance of community needs, she said.
It’s premature to say elementary school closure is on the table again, according to Ridgeway, but she expects ongoing conversations about the number of schools and how the district delivers education. When she cleaned out her office at Weymouth, she added, she found an unrealized plan from 2004 to close that school.
“I know that this has been an important but difficult topic to find solutions for in RSU 71 for a long time. And so being mindful of that, I don’t think that one person’s going to come in with solutions to those problems, but I am really committed to having the community talk about it,” she said.
The Waldo County Technical Center, which also enrolls students from neighboring districts, has applied for state funding to build a “state-of-the-art” regional facility serving ninth graders through the college level, and expects to know in January if the state will fund the project.
If successful, it would also likely mean high school consolidation. That project wouldn’t be her administration’s main focus, but Ridgeway recognizes its importance, she said.
In another facilities challenge, last November voters shot down a $3.5 million bond proposal for renovations to the district’s track and athletic facilities, which officials previously said have become risky to use.
Ridgeway said the board is prioritizing offering sports to students, but doesn’t yet have a specific proposal, which it hopes to develop by next summer. The district continues fundraising.
Her administration also aims to grow connections to community organizations and meaningful experiences outside the classroom, such as a new program with the Belfast Soup Kitchen where alternative education students prepare take-home backpacks of food for younger students and a market for middle and high schoolers.
Food shipments previously came from the Good Shepherd Food Bank and were coordinated by school nurses and counselors. The district also prioritizes outdoor education, Ridgeway said, such as through its school gardens and high school kelp farm.
“I just don’t think that academic achievement and joyful schools are competing priorities,” she said. “I think those things can exist together. In fact, they amplify each other.”
She’s developing systems for staff to talk about and address professional development, student data and student needs, while continuing to improve academic achievement, she said. Sharing good work happening in the schools is another priority.
In the central office, a major goal is providing stability and thoughtful leadership, recognizing administrator responsibility to support classrooms instead of the other way around.
Ridgeway describes herself as a “determined optimist” as a leader, thinking of the best possible outcome but recognizing that it takes effort to achieve.
“Overall, I think the sentiment is positive and people are ready to roll up their sleeves and get to work,” she said.
