By Cliff White 

Staff Writer

Maine’s Supreme Judicial Court has dismissed an appeal by Frye Island that would have allowed the town to avoid paying its share of education costs for School Administrative District No. 6 (SAD 6). 

A 2005 state law exempted Frye Island from a formula used to compute the total of what each town in Maine owes to its school district. 

“The law containing the formula which calculates what communities owe is still relatively new, and when it passed what was created was new and very different public policy,” Hazelton said. “What we’re seeing now is the kinks being shaken out, and revealing that everyone shares the responsibility of paying for public education in Maine,” said SAD 6 Board of Directors Chairman Cindy Hazelton.

Frye Island seceded from the town of Standish in 1998, for both logistical and financial reasons, Standish Town Manager Gordon Billington said.

Billington said officials from Frye Island signed a document in which they agreed to continue to support SAD 6 if Standish remained neutral in state legislative hearings on Frye Island’s bid for secession. Their attempt to free themselves from that obligation went against that agreement, Billington said.

“They had bound themselves to that agreement,” Billington said. “In addition, they have a social and moral obligation to support our local educational system. Everybody has a responsibility to pay for education, including those with seasonal homes in the area who happen not to have any kids in the local system.”

The 2005 law used the percentage of students from each town who attend district schools as a factor in its computational formula. Since Frye Island is closed during the winter and sends no pupils to SAD 6 schools, it would have had no costs under the formula, said Hazelton.

The town of Frye Island and three of its residents – James Kuiken, Grace Morin and John Crosby filed a complaint against the state in December 2005 arguing the legislation forcing them to pay violated numerous provisions of the Maine and United States Constitutions, including due process, equal protection and equal taxation, according to their appeal brief filed with the Maine Supreme Court. When the superior court determined the law to be constitutional, the decision was appealed and brought before the Maine Supreme Judicial Court.

Frye Island compared itself to Newry, located near the Sunday River ski resort, which has similar relatively high property values and few students, but is not exempt from the general cost-sharing formula of the law.

The ruling stated Frye Island failed to meet the burden of proof in showing the two towns are treated differently under the law, but said that point was moot because addressing the concern of the Maine Constitution in providing for public education fell under the jurisdiction of the Maine Legislature. The court’s decision, rendered on Feb. 7, denied the town’s appeal.

Officials from Frye Island, which is closed November through April, could not be reached for comment as of press time Wednesday.

Hazelton said the SAD 6 board fully supported the Supreme Court’s decision.

“The financial support of Frye Island is very important to the district and to the education of our students,” Hazelton said.