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Robbinston residents will have the opportunity to vote on whether the Robbinston School System should withdraw from AOS 77 by town vote set for Monday, March 9, from 12:45 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Robbinston Fire Station. Not on the ballot is the intent of the school committee to then contract with Calais, with an annual fee paying for superintendent duties such as overseeing the budget and the school, superintendent office duties such as warrants and accounts receivable and payable, as well as special education services. The cost for contracting with Calais has been tentatively agreed upon as 10% of the Calais Superintendent's Office total annual expenses, an amount of just about $40,000 for the current fiscal year. If the annual expense increases, so would the amount of the 10%. Robbinston's current share of the AOS budget is about $54,000.
At a public hearing on the AOS withdrawal held by the town on the evening of February 25, only two residents attended. Town Clerk Cathy Footer gave an explanation of the lack of quality service received from the AOS office through her lens as the town's treasurer, noting that for the past two years in particular she has had to deal with inaccuracies in billing that has taken up too much of her time. At one point she called the AOS office "inept." School board Chair Joe Footer explained that service is the number one priority for withdrawing from the AOS but that if money could be saved by the town by contracting with Calais, then all the better.
Calais Superintendent Bob Moholland attended with Calais School Committee members, and he reiterated that Robbinston had approached Calais, not the other way around. He stressed that the annual contract could be dropped by Robbinston after the first year if the town was not happy with the service and contract with another superintendent's office. Robbinston will be a stand‑alone school with control over its budget and school choice.
No matter what the vote is by the town, there will be a changing landscape at both the Calais and AOS superintendent offices, each of which may have an impact on budgets. Calais Superintendent Bob Moholland will be resigning from his half‑time position on July 1. His salary for the position was set at $30,000, with his health insurance benefits obtained through his position as director of the St. Croix Regional Technical Center. The previous superintendent, Keith Laser, had a full‑time salary of about $82,000, not including benefits. AOS 77 Superintendent Jim Underwood will be retiring in the spring, with his replacement's compensation also up for negotiation. The two position replacements could change the amount that each AOS member community must pay and that the Calais School System would charge as part of the proposed 10% fee agreement with Robbinston. |
