March 28, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Enrollment swells in SAD 53 schools

PITTSFIELD — As each administrator reported to the SAD 53 board of directors Monday night regarding the first day of school, there was a single, common theme: enrollment is up, way up. Even with a number of students moving out of the district, enrollment increased this fall by 81 students.

The lure? “We have a good program,” board Chairman David Fortin said. In fact, the quality of SAD 53 education has been identified in the town’s comprehensive planning process as a key factor in population and economics.

Recent town committees listed the quality of education through SAD 53 and Maine Central Institute as a primary “quality of life” indicator for Pittsfield.

Burnham Village School “has the largest enrollment it has ever had,” with more than 80 students, reported Principal Michael Gallagher. A second half-time kindergarten position had to be added to fill the need caused by increased pupil registration. Districtwide elementary enrollment went from 419 last year to 459 this year, said Gallagher.

At Warsaw Middle School, 15 more students have been added this year, mostly in the seventh grade, said Principal Claton Corriveau. The seventh grade, at 115 students, has one of the largest classes ever seen at Warsaw.

At MCI, an increase in enrollment caused the school to advertise for two more teachers, a part-time science teacher and an additional humanities teacher.

“We projected 372 this year and we now have 398 from SAD 53,” said Head of School Douglas Cummings. “We’ve seen quite a lot of growth. Out-of-district enrollment is up to 80 students, he said, with 70 residential placements. There were 45 residents last year.

In order to keep class sizes at the school’s preferred 15 or fewer, the two new positions were established.

One disadvantage to having a quality school district, said McCannell, is the increasing number of students attending SAD 53 who do not live within the district. The issue of students attending the district who do not live in Pittsfield, Detroit or Burnham has been a nagging problem in the past, said McCannell, but recently “there’s a hole in the dam.”

A few students come to SAD 53 for nonacademic reasons, he said, such as certain sport programs on the secondary level, but most come for the sole purpose of attending school.

They stay with friends and relatives and “it is impossible to enforce,” said the superintendent. “It comes down to some citizens picking up probate custody of some of these children at a cost of $20 and a couple of hours in court.”

McCannell said it is nice to know that the district is sought out by some people, but at the same time, “it’s not paying the bills if their taxes are being paid in another town.”

He said occasionally superintendents can approve a transfer from a neighboring district, but those transfers are often for geographical reasons.

“We usually have as many transferring in as are transferring out. That has not been the case here,” he said.

The cost of special services for students whose parents don’t pay taxes in the district is adding up quickly, said McCannell. Debra Hannigan, director of Special Services for SAD 53 said: “Our caseload at this time is 187 students. That is extraordinarily high for our district. This does not include all of the new transfer students or the new referrals.”


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