An end of an era is at hand for the Robbinston Grade School, but parents of school‑age children won't have time to mourn the loss as they place their children elsewhere by the start of school next week. At the town's August 19 referendum vote, residents voted 149 to 124, a margin of 25 votes, to close the school after a number of years of contentious budget discussions revolving around school costs. The voter turnout was 64%. Town Clerk Cathy Footer reports that there are 426 registered voters in the town, and of the 273 ballots cast, 56 were absentee.
     As a part of the closure agreement, the Robbinston School System has a contract in place with the Calais School System to take elementary students. However, school choice is allowed, with the town picking up the tuition costs. Robbinston is an independent school unit, having voted to withdraw from AOS 77, with June 31 having been the last day as a part of that system. It now contracts with the Calais School System for legally required superintendent office services.
     Calais School System interim Superintendent Ray Freve notes that a letter has been sent out designed to answer questions about the registration process. He summarized the contents by explaining that if a Robbinston elementary student will be going to Calais "the parents don't need to do anything." If a student is going to another elementary school, such as in Perry, then they will need to register their student at the school, and that school system will be in charge of requesting the student's records. If a Robbinston elementary student has been attending school in another town, such as in Perry, but wishes to change over to Calais, the parents will need to register the student in Calais, and the former school system, such as Perry, will send the records to Calais.
     AOS 77 Superintendent Kenneth Johnson confirms that all the AOS 77 member schools have capacity "to take Robbinston students if their parents so desire." Freve also states that while he hadn't spoken to the Baileyville school, "All schools have room for enrollment."
     While Robbinston School Committee Chair Joe Footer had said at a July public hearing about the closure process that he had reached out to area superintendents and had been told that schools were full up, Johnson notes that he was not contacted by Footer about AOS 77 school capacity and that there is indeed room. Johnson explains that any parent wishing to send their child to an AOS 77 school should contact or visit the elementary school of choice for registration purposes.
     At the August 24 Robbinston School Committee meeting, parent and resident Abbie Rohde questioned Footer's statement about no room in other schools. She said that she had reached out to the Perry principal, who confirmed that the school had room and would be happy to include Robbinston elementary students in its ranks. Footer clarified that he had spoken to Perry School Committee Chair Ivy Turner, who he said had told him that the school had a waiting list and didn't have room. Rohde said, "It was asked repeatedly at the public meeting about this to look at Perry and Charlotte" as a possible alternative structure to closing the school, with upper elementary students schooled elsewhere but lower elementary students retained at the town's school. She also noted that if parents had known that Perry could accommodate their children, a different transportation scenario could have been set up, whereas now parents have to pay for any transportation other than to Calais. "We were told they didn't have room," she stated.
     Footer, committee member Julie Murray and Selectman Tom Moholland all told Rohde that the subject of room in other schools is water under the bridge, with Murray losing her temper and telling Rohde that she was not the only one who had a child having to make a transition. With school choice in place, Moholland told Rohde, he didn't understand her persistence in bringing up the matter and, along with the school committee, did not appear to understand her suggestion that residents did not have accurate information when making decisions with their votes.
      Freve assured Rohde that if it did turn out that a number of students attended a school other than Calais that parents could petition the school board to create an additional bus run. Freve also stressed that questions about enrollment space at other schools should be brought to him, as it is the superintendent's job to find out such information.
     The Robbinston School System will be responsible for busing children to the Calais School System only. "The biggest change -- they will probably get more sleeping time," Freve added of the bus run. One bus run will pick up grades K through 12 starting at about 6:30 a.m., with delivery to the school expected about an hour later. Calais Elementary School Principal Sue Carter was present at the August 24 meeting and said the bus run should leave room for  children to have their breakfast at the schools, but if it turned out that the bus run took longer and there was not enough time the bus run could be adjusted.
     Freve said, "It's almost an exact duplicate of the current bus run," although that could change slightly with children coming in or going out of the school system. "No doubt a few more miles will be added, but we won't have to take off quite so early." Children going to other schools will need to have parents or guardians make their own transportation arrangements. Johnson says that while transportation to any AOS 77 school would be the responsibility of the sending family, he notes that if there were unique transportation needs he would want to explore options and should be contacted directly. For instance, he notes, if a group of students wanted to attend Eastport, "we could possibly alter the transport schedule to pick them up at a designated spot."
     There will be additional school‑related business to wind down, including impact bargaining for the 11 members of the staff. While the subject was not raised at the August 24 committee meeting, Freve did bring up the subject of the school's assets, including equipment such as tables and chairs, curriculum books and tablets. He recounted that some schools had approached him about purchase or loan of items, in particular of textbooks, which are updated about every five years and can carry a hefty price tag. Freve recommended loaning the books as a "neighborly" gesture, with Rohde suggesting that it would help to mend relationships bruised over the statement by Footer of there being no room in the other schools. However, Footer and Murray suggested that bringing in revenue was more important, with Footer saying that with Robbinston paying for its children to be educated elsewhere he thought the receiving schools should pay for the books. However, with additional questions from Freve, Footer told the superintendent that he "would defer the decision to those who are paid," with recommendations brought to the committee for its consideration and vote.
     In additional business at the August 24 committee meeting, the committee voted to send the 2015B2016 school budget of $794,756 to a validation referendum vote. A public forum will be held on Tuesday, September 8, at 7 p.m. at the school, and the vote will take place on Tuesday, September 15.
Former employees of the Robbinston school utilized two days during the week of August 24 to drop off school‑owned belongings and to pick up personal possessions, with Freve at the school on one of those days to assist and answer questions.
     Freve stresses that parents or guardians with questions about registration or other issues should feel free to call his office at 454‑7561. For questions about schools in AOS 77, Johnson can be reached at 853‑2567.