By Amanda Estes
Staff Writer    
    Since the School Administration Reorganization law took effect on June 7, educators statewide have been in an unenviable position: exploring partnerships with other districts in order to form regional school units and generating methods for cutting administrative costs, while not having a solid understanding of the law’s ramifications.
    South Portland’s newly appointed superintendent, Suzanne Godin, however, is taking it all in stride.
    “It’s an exciting time to be looking at education, but there is a lot on our plate,” she said.
    Last week, the school board authorized Godin, who left her position as assistant superintendent last month to take over for former superintendent Wendy Houlihan, to submit a letter of intent to the state’s Department of Education by August 31 that will outline South Portland’s plan to remain an independent district.    
    A district of more than 2,500 students, South Portland qualifies for an exemption from the law. Although South Portland and Cape Elizabeth administrators initially had discussions about consolidating, Cape Elizabeth will likely also remain independent as the district qualifies for the law’s “high performing, efficient districts” exemption.
    “There’s some philosophical concerns between the two districts,” said Godin, referring to some results of the consolidation explorations. “Our initial look at financial pieces based on the formula that the state was putting forth–there’s some question that we might actually lose funding coming together because we’re a minimal receiver district and that may impact the funding of the two districts.”
    As a minimal receiver, Godin said, South Portland receives roughly $4 million due to the state’s perception of the high property value located within the district.
    “We have a burden on the backs of our taxpayers–how are we going to provide an education at the level that sounds like our taxpayers want for 3,100 students?”
    Godin said all talk of consolidation has not ceased. Instead, Godin is continuing to meet with Cape Elizabeth Superintendent Alan Hawkins and Portland Superintendent Mary Jo O’Connor to determine ways of “collaborating resources and consolidating parts.”
    Although, Godin said it is too early to know how those partnerships might work, she said one possibility may involve coming together with Portland on transportation issues. Godin said she will know more as she develops a full plan– to be submitted to the state by Dec. 1– outlining the district’s proposed methods for cutting costs in the four required areas: system administration, transportation, special education and facilities and maintenance.
    Another item to digest on South Portland’s crowded plate is the high school renovation and middle school consolidation projects. In November, voters will have the opportunity to approve or reject the $56 million bond for renovations and additions to the high school.
    Godin said plans to consolidate Memorial and Mahoney Middle Schools, a project that could receive state funding, are currently on hold as the state has yet to distribute applications for state funding for construction and changing the rules around state funding has been part of the regionalization plan.
    Up until Election Day, Godin said the secondary schools facilities committee plans to host a series of meetings with various community groups and public forums to further discuss the plans. Godin said the group will also be distributing informational brochures, creating displays for the libraries and community center and offering school tours.  
    The focus will be on the benefits the entire community will receive by supporting renovation of the high school, Godin said.
    “I was talking to Dana Anderson (Director of Public Works and Parks and Recreation) yesterday and we were talking quite a bit about how that actually between the high school fields and the community center becomes a community campus in terms of recreation and facilities,” she said. “So one of the pieces is we need to make sure that people see the benefits–even if they don’t have children in school- they’ll receive from this project.”
    Godin said the new high school building, in conjunction with the “state of the art auditorium and state of the art recreation center,” could eventually support a variety of school and community functions.        
    Getting out into the community is something Godin has been doing a lot of recently as she settles into her new role. During her three years in the district, Godin said community involvement was an area that she was not able to devote as much time to as she would have liked. Now as head administrator, she is meeting with the school board, the city council, municipal department heads, the city manager, neighborhood organizations, senior housing groups, the PTA and a representative community group.
     “My goal is to find out what they feel South Portland should be proud of or recognized for, what challenges they see ahead of us and then what are some of the priorities they think I should be setting in terms of the direction the school department is going,” she said. “I think the schools are a huge part of the South Portland community–not only a huge part of the budget, but a part of the community that we recognize as the growth of the students and I want to make sure I’m hearing what all of the different components would maybe feel are the needs for the school,” she said.
    One of the recommendation from Godin’s meetings is she should consider co-teaching a class at the high school. As a former classroom teacher, Godin said she continues to “look for ways to stay connected to the classroom.”
    Godin taught fourth and fifth grade in Lewiston schools for eight years before moving to a district level position as the “Chapter One,” a pre-first grade reading comprehension program, and math curriculum coordinator for five years. More recently, the North Yarmouth resident was the assistant principal at Mabel I. Wilson Elementary School, which serves Cumberland and North Yarmouth.  
    Having worked as a building administrator for nine years, Godin said she knows it can be a struggle to maintain a consistent presence in the classrooms.
    “The day to day challenges–consolidation, building projects–can easily get in the way of direct connection to teaching and learning,” she said.
    Godin said, however, she is committed to keeping student achievement at the forefront of the district’s mission.
    “We need to focus on student achievement,” she said. “We have had some great success in our graduation rate, in our college acceptance rate, but we still have a number of students that drop out of school and we still have a number of students that are not as academically successful as we would like them to be.”
    Godin also said the district has a significant attendance issue. There needs to be an element of community involvement, she said, in order to make it a priority that students attend school every day.  She also said the district needs to look at ways to intervene sooner-as early as kindergarten-to encourage pride in academic success.