A small crowd attended state Education Commissioner Susan Gendron's presentation at the Rose M. Gaffney School on Monday, September 10, on the proposed new Machias high school or a regional high school for the western portion of the county. Also appearing was Lyndon Keck, an architect from the Portland firm PDT Architects, which has been hired to consult on the proposed school. The community forum was held as the project faces a December 2007 deadline to provide a concept design to the state Board of Education (BOE) for approval.

     Gendron began the meeting by laying out the information required for the concept design. Before authorizing the construction, the BOE needs details in four areas: the educational program that the new school would provide; the physical design of the building and facilities; an overview of who the school would serve, including traditional and career education or vocational students, continuing and adult education, and others; and the number of students that the proposed school would accommodate. Gendron said that the policy of the state is generally not to fund any high school with less that 300 students; currently, the enrollment at Machias Memorial High School is about 130.

     The commissioner detailed the requirements for the state to consider funding a smaller school. She said that three factors would all have to be within one standard deviation of the norm for high schools in the state with 300 students: the level of faculty credentials, considering the number of teachers with probationary or professional certification to teach; the graduation rate from the school; and the attainments in the state assessment system, considering the number of students who failed to achieve acceptable levels. Gendron characterized the state's desire for high schools of at least 300 students as "incentivizing cooperation" with surrounding towns and districts. Later, in answer to a local teacher's question, Gendron said that, after the school consolidation bill this year, the "state board has changed the requirements" and that "to build a school for less than 300 is very unlikely."

     Gendron closed her portion of the presentation by reaffirming her commitment to the project and her desire to make it "a demonstration school for the state." She said that her office would provide $300,000 in additional funds for professional development for faculty at the new school.

     Lyndon Keck described how his firm had been hired in 2006 and the process by which a "Futures Team" of local educators and residents had engaged in "visioning and imagining" the needs of the new school in a series of meetings from March through May of this year. During these meetings, the group "started talking about a regional high school fully integrated with career or vocational education opportunities." Keck said his company looked for inspiration to schools outside the area, and he presented plans and details of several schools across the United States which presented a range of possibilities for the new school. He listed four important characteristics identified in visioning sessions for the new school: tradition with vision; a single regional high school; flexible facilities, as opposed to traditional single use classrooms; small school values. He stated that an important component of planning would be to "keep the special qualities of our small schools in a larger school."

     James Black, a teacher at Machias Memorial High School, said that he felt there are "credibility issues" with the commissioner on this project. "At a meeting here in July of 2006, you [Gendron] said that the 300 student limit won't make any difference. You said we would have this high tech high school." Gendron acknowledged the statement and said, "I am committed to ensure there is a project here, but it may be different than what you envisioned."

     The principal of the Gaffney school said that he was very concerned about site selection for the proposed school. "Throughout this process, we have gone ahead with the assurance that the school would be located in Machias, the service center of the area." Lyndon Keck responded, saying that "we are required [by the state] to find the best site.... One component is that the site be centrally located for the population served by the school. The site will move depending on the group of towns included." To a follow up, he confirmed that sites west of Machias are under active consideration. "A site has not been selected, but we have been actively looking at sites outside of Machias." Keck mentioned that potential sites in Whitneyville, Jonesboro and further west had been looked at. His company would produce a report on their choice of the best site and provide that recommendation to the state. He said that he "understands the desire to have the school in Machias" but hoped that "people would make a choice for the best location, not what is a political decision on siting.