The vote on West Bath’s continued participation in RSU 1 will be held in the next few weeks and it is a decision that West Bath residents will weigh carefully. It is up to West Bath voters to decide whether children attending grades K-5 and residing in the community would be better educated in a separate, independent school district that runs an elementary school or whether the consolidated district in which the town now participates should continue to provide educational services to those students. The town would tuition middle and high school aged students to other school districts and, under the terms of the proposal, it is likely that many of those students would continue to go to RSU schools.

The standard used to evaluate whether creating a separate school unit for the town makes sense should not be just money or taxes. While cost is a factor, the education that students will receive, not only next year, but years into the future must be part of the equation. The RSU has a record of providing a quality educational experience for West Bath students and educational excellence is the focus of the district. While residents are right in their pride of the accomplishments of the West Bath school, it is important to keep in mind that an element of that success has come under the stewardship of the RSU.

RSU 1 has been responsible for hiring the current administrator and many of the current staff. The RSU has implemented the Expeditionary Learning model and has supported that model throughout many difficult budget periods. The West Bath School has also benefitted from having students from outside the community of West Bath attend the school — this has not only created diversity and a vibrant learning community, but has also brought the strength that comes with committed parents to the school.

The benefits of consolidation — access to resources, flexible programming options, collaboration among staff and administrators, and choice — are showing positive results throughout the RSU. We don’t have one excellent school — we have several excellent schools and it is proven that the RSU can successfully administer a varied educational program offering opportunities to learners at all grade levels. Those were some of the arguments made in favor of forming the RSU several years ago and the RSU has delivered. The success of the West Bath school is a measure of the success of the RSU.

Just as there is no single measure that can be used to evaluate the benefits of creating an independent school district, there is no single indicator that can be used to conclude that the RSU has failed to meet its promise. The communities that joined to form the RSU a few years ago had a shared objective: educational excellence. All of the participating communities — and the schools — in the district play a role in assuring progress toward that objective and we hope that West Bath residents will decide to remain part of the RSU.

Tim Harkins and
Steve August
RSU 1 Board of
Directors