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BACK TO SCHOOL

School consolidation's long journey: Litchfield, Sabattus and Wales

Longer bus rides for some students

By Betty Adams badams@centralmaine.com
Staff Writer

WALES -- The wheels on the bus will be going 'round a little longer when school starts this year.

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Kindergarten teacher Melissa Cobb escorts her students into the Libby-Tozier School in Litchfield Thursday. Some 38 kindergartners and their parents rode the bus to Libby-Tozier, one of the three primary schools in the district. They were greeted by Principal Brian Albert � he is also principal at Wales and Sabattus primary schools � and faculty during the orientation. School starts next week.

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Bus routes and pickup times for many children in Litchfield, Sabattus and Wales have been reconfigured now that all but primary students might have to leave their hometowns to get to school.

This past school year, the school board approved a plan to consolidate grades 3 through 5 in one school and grades 6 through 8 in another. Officials said the move is part of a reconfiguration plan to save money, provide equity among the programs and maximize strengths of staff.

Up until this year, children in grades kindergarten through 8 attended school in their hometowns. Beginning next week, for example, third-graders from Wales will attend Carrie Ricker School in Litchfield, and sixth-graders in Litchfield will go to Oak Hill Middle School in Sabattus.

In June, the board also voted to close Wales Central School at the end of the 2010-11 year. Wales residents will vote in November on whether they will assume the costs to keep it open.

Beginning next week, all the third-, fourth- and fifth-graders in the district will land at Carrie Ricker School, and all the sixth-, seventh- and eight-graders will be housed at Oak Hill Middle School, formerly known as Sabattus Central School.

"It's been a much greater challenge for us putting those bus routes together than anticipated," Regional School Unit 4 Superintendent James Hodgkin.

He said he anticipates some glitches in the early weeks of school, but that they will be worked out.

"Our priority is for the safety of kids," he said. "We feel like this schedule could work, and we'll be flexible."

Early this week, Hodgkin said transportation officials estimated the longest bus ride for a students will be 50 minutes.

The greatest change, he said, involves Sabattus and includes an earlier start time of 7:30 a.m. for middle-schoolers.

Hodgkin said the transition to the realigned system meant shifting staff, as well.

"We've moved 75 percent of our elementary teachers either within the building or to another building," he said. RSU 4 bus routes are named by color: gold, pewter, terra cotta, apricot, lime, black and blue are among them.

At two hubs -- Carrie Ricker in Litchfield and Oak Hill Middle School in Sabattus -- some children will get off one bus and transfer to another.

On Thursday, 38 kindergartners and their parents rode buses to Libby-Tozier School in Litchfield, one of the three primary schools in the district. They were greeted by Principal Brian Albert -- he is also principal at Wales and Sabattus primary schools -- and teachers, and they stayed for an orientation and a barbecue.

The district's website -- www.rsu4.org -- includes bus dropoff and pickup times, as well as start and finish times for each district school. School bus routes for the region also are listed on the Kennebec Journal website, kjonline.com.

Some 1,500 students are enrolled in RSU 4 schools.

Betty Adams -- 621-5631

badams@centralmaine.com