Voice, choice and control

To the Editor:

I’ve heard over and over again that being a part of the RSU gives us a voice, gives us choice and gives us local control. Let’s think about this.

Voice: When does the RSU 21 board ever listen to the voice of the people in Arundel? Parents urged the RSU 21 board not to eliminate transportation to Thornton Academy. Residents pressed them to retain Arundel’s legal right to school choice. But the board looked the other way. They passed a policy forcing Arundel middle schoolers to attend Middle School of the Kennebunks starting in 2017, and then added insult to injury by eliminating high school transportation to any but Kennebunk High School. Does the RSU 21 board truly give Arundel a voice? If so, they certainly don’t listen. Face it, we have no voice.

Choice: The RSU 21 board promised Arundel residents that they would always have middle school choice. No one, not the RSU 21 superintendent, not the RSU 21 school board, refutes this statement. Yet, in one quick sweep, both choice and transportation were eliminated for Arundel. I’d say that leaves us with no choice.

Control: The RSU 21 board now has control over our K-8 students. What’s next? Moving our fourth- and fifth-graders out of M.L. Day? Adjusting the cost sharing formula next year? And which community consistently opposes the bloated RSU 21 school budgets, only to see them pass in the end? The RSU 21 board is stacked against Arundel. They do what they want, whether Arundel likes it or not. Arundel has no control.

No voice, no choice, no control. As taxpayers of Arundel, it’s time to wake up. It’s time to stop letting the RSU 21 board pick our pockets while we look the other way. It’s time to be leaders instead of followers. I urge you to lead by voting yes on June 14. Let’s begin the process of withdrawal. Let’s take back our voice, our choice and local control. We can do this.

E Paul Raymond

Arundel