5 years ago, the high profile resignation and ensuing lawsuit from KHS teacher Rosa Slack following her race-related harassment made national news, and we cleaned house in upper admin. After some internal turmoil, the district settled on hiring Dr. Terri Cooper to lead the new administration. Dr. Cooper, hailing from North Carolina, was Maine’s very first African American school superintendent. Her adjustment to our coastal Maine community over the past four years has certainly been a difficult one, and has been fraught with numerous disagreements and scandals. This year, the relationship between the district’s teachers and Central Office has been particularly difficult. We are in the middle of a teacher contract negotiation, and a contentious one at that, so each side has been seeking out the best leverage to increase their own gains. Exacerbating this is the fact that teachers in RSU21 are being paid around $15,000 less than in our peer districts, all while the budget for Central Office has ballooned. A number of new, high paying positions have been added to Central Office in recent years, almost all of which have been staffed by outside hires, sparking questions in the community about redundancy and waste, and convincing inside candidates that they have little hope for promotion. Worse, hires in the HR Department are often perceived as negatively affecting teachers. This new department has been dismissive of teachers when questioned about missing or incorrect paychecks, and has bungled countless communications, often resulting in teachers feeling patronized or written off. 

Many community members have spoken up against any further increases to the Central Office budget for the coming school year, including a former principal, public officials, former Board members, and even those involved in the creation of the budget itself. Unfortunately, many teachers have been too afraid to speak publicly against the administration. High turnover in recent years has ensured that much of the staff is in their first few years of employment, and, as per state law, can still be terminated without cause. Additionally, a failed recall effort led two years ago with the ultimate intent of removing Dr. Cooper from office was revealed to be motivated at least in part by racist and intolerant beliefs, which paved the way for supporters of the current superintendent to label all her detractors as racists, a common theme on our towns’ Facebook pages. This is all some pretty heavy motivation not to speak up in a public setting. 

All of this came to a head at the April 29th budget meeting, in which taxpayers from the 3 towns were asked to consider a 56 thousand dollar increase in the Central Office budget. After a lot of heated debate, an overwhelming majority of the 200+ voters present settled on a $400,000 cut instead, voting it through with applause and cheers. Present at the meeting was a large delegation from the KAKEA teachers union, dressed in red shirts and bandanas as part of the nationwide “Red for Ed” solidarity efforts. Many of these teachers applauded speakers who reproached the runaway spending in Central Office and voted in favor of the cuts. For many voters that night, this blow to the carefully prepared budget was less about reducing tax dollars and more about sending a message expressing the distrust and anger that was finally boiling over within the district. Unfortunately, as you’ve probably heard, the former Board Chair made regrettable comments online about the voters, sparking outrage across the community. 

I recently made a list of the 74 teachers, advisors, and other influential staff members who’ve driven my education in RSU21 over the past 13 years. Cross-referencing this with the district website and the resignation letters approved by the Board this year, I found that 30 of them, just seven shy of half, have left or are about to leave the district. Nearly half of the educators who personally brought me to where I am today are gone. That figure just hits me a little bit harder than “We are seeing a consistent decline in turnover,” as the district fact-sheet asserts. This fact-sheet was released a few days ago in hopes of mitigating the frustration many stakeholders are feeling towards leadership in the district, but in light of systemic conflicts with Central Office, widespread dissatisfaction, and significant teacher turnover, it’s clear that the district’s leadership faces substantial challenges that a mere fact-sheet cannot resolve. Our district is at a juncture, and from here we are going to need to lead the charge with genuine and impactful change to restore trust and stability within our schools.