EASTBROOK — David Burks, a teacher in this small Washington County town, remembers the meeting when Superintendent Bill Webster came to Cave Hill School and announced a consolidation was looming.
Nine districts would be turned into one for 12 towns in the Ellsworth area.
“There was a deafening silence,” Burks said. “The only thing I could say was, ‘I don’t envy your job.’”
In the past two years, the consolidation has had little impact on Cave Hill School, student population 78. Burks credits Webster, who on Nov. 8 was hired as Lewiston’s new superintendent.
“He was handed a heavy duty,” Burks said. “Looking back, we were fortunate to have his fiscal expertise throughout the process. Not only did he lead the RSU through the consolidation, but he also made time to come out to our school and play the accordion for my class during a pioneer unit. He was fantastic.”
Attending consolidation meetings, “it got really testy,” with people yelling at Webster. “I felt sorry for him,” Burks said. “He’s a real professional and didn’t get flustered.”
At Ella Lewis School in nearby Steuben, Teaching Principal Darlene Falabella also gave Webster high praise.
As superintendent, Webster has been open and accessible. “When he gives you things you need to improve, he’s thoughtful and very helpful. He’s always been great with children. He comes around to the schools and visits.”
Regional School Unit 24, the new consolidated district, is starting to gel, she said, but townspeople don’t like it. “They don’t like the idea of not having a voice.”
She credits Webster with doing “tremendous work” with the consolidation. “I do not know how the man does it.”
Last year when the school budget was cut, he was creative and saved people’s jobs, she said.
Jeff Alley, a lobsterman in Winter Harbor, was a member of the school board that hired Webster in 1996. Today, he’s a member of the RSU 24 Board of Directors.
Webster was a good hire, Alley said.
“He did a wonderful job,” Alley said. “He helped guide us through a difficult situation. He helped us form a functional unit. We would have been much less successful getting to the point we are without him.”
bwashuk@sunjournal.com
Send questions/comments to the editors.
