Dexter Models State Consolidation Plan

At the January 24th Abbott Memorial Library forum to discuss the new proposed K-8 school to be constructed on the Fern Road in Dexter, there was a question of how the Governor's consolidation plan would affect the MSAD #46 building project.

In an article included in the February 3rd issue of the Eastern Gazette, Superintendent Kevin Jordan is quoted as responding, " The Governor's plan has no chance of passage. There are far more questions than answers. It scares me if his proposal does go through on July 1... our school board will be dissolved. We will then have limited representation and loss of local control"

It's probably natural for your superintendent to fear the Governor's school district consolidation plan. Under the plan, his job will likely dissolve along with the MSAD #46 school board.

What appears to be unnatural though is his support for the Small Schools Coalition, since that group is opposing the closure of small schools while the SAD 46 school leaders are in full court press for the elimination of three small district schools in favor of a large 750 student school.

It seems disingenuous to oppose the governor's consolidation under the guise of concern for the loss of local control. Under the state plan, Dexter will find itself in the same position that the other three communities in MSAD #46 already find themselves, in the minority when it comes to representation.

With the closure of our small schools, under the current circumstances it would seem likely that we will be viewed as a model of how the new consolidation plan can work!