Dear Editor:

We are told in this newspaper that the two towns were eventually joined by school officials in developing a “repeal and replace” approach to updating the School Charter’s language to match current state statutes,

Last April, about a month before anonymous donors financed architects to redesign our school system, the state enacted LD1845 An Act To Amend the Education Statutes. I recommend reading the bill version as it is easy to identify where changes were made.

A quick peruse of the Act reveals three types of changes were made.

1. The word “restructure” is replaced by “innovate”

2. The commissioner may designate a school administrative unit that engages in education research and development as a demonstration site

3. Waiver of rules for local schools if the waiver is necessary to achieve the proposed innovation        

If a school is designated as a research and development site it can request a waiver of the rules and make up its own rules.

What are the rules in our new school charter being repealed and replaced to conform with current state statutes?

 The educational statute provides these instructions for those not designated as innovative:

“The development of comprehensive educational goals establishing community expectations for what all students should know, the skills they should possess, the attitude toward work and learning they should hold upon completing school and the role of the school in the community”

We are also being told that the school board is negotiating with corporate donors.

I am wondering why our schools are treated as public institutions. This seems more like the way private corporate culture operates.

Susan Mackenzie Andersen

Boothbay