Chebeague Island Debates Whether To Secede From Mainland Maine

By Linda Orlando

The 356 year-round residents of Chebeague Island, one of the small islands located off the coast of Maine, are debating the issue of whether they should sever their ties to the mainland town of Cumberland in order to ensure the survival of their way of life. Such survival includes the preservation of the tiny school located on the island, which serves only 23 children from kindergarten through 5th grade. Currently the children of year-round residents are transferred to mainland schools beginning in 6th grade, but this spring the Cumberland-North Yarmouth school district proposed a change that would mean the island’s children would be sent to the mainland beginning in 4th grade instead of 6th. Islanders reacted strongly to the proposal, seeing it as a first step toward closing the school—and doing so might be the beginning of the end for Chebeague being a year-round community.

Longtime residents of Chebeague are saddened and heartbroken by the looming thought of the demise of the character and culture of their island community, because losing an island school is often the first step to losing that island's year-round population. "If that happens, we'll lose our community that everybody here just… cherishes," says island mechanic Dave Stevens. "It'll turn into a summer community. We're just not about to let that happen." Faced with the backlash against the plan, the board of directors of School Administrative District 51 shelved the plan.

Change Isn't Always s Good Thing

Chebeague Island has shared ties for 184 years with the mainland town of Cumberland, which was once dominated by farmers. But Cumberland is now a Portland suburb, a bedroom community for urban professionals, while the island remains rural, and many of its residents are lobstermen. As a result of the growing diversity between the mainland culture and the island way of living, islanders are considering secession from the mainland in order to preserve their way of life.

After months of discussion, residents began circulating a petition asking Cumberland to hold a public hearing regarding secession. The petition also proposes that 9 other small islands join Chebeague in severing ties with Cumberland. In order for a public hearing to be held, a majority of registered island voters must sign the petition, and so far only 60 have signed it out of the 330 registered voters living on the island. The subject is a hot topic of discussion at local island hangouts, but many islanders have not yet made up their minds.

The Road To Secession May Be a Long One

Other islands have been successful in removing themselves from the mainland, but secession for Chebeague Island will not be easy. Both the town of Cumberland and the Maine legislature must approve of the proposal before Chebeaguers get a chance at self-government. Circulating the petition is the first step in separating a territory from a municipality, and the final decision must be made by the Legislature.

A group called the Chebeague Island Community Association, formed as a result of the school controversy, has shifted its focus to other issues in addition to the school. Islanders are questioning whether the needs of the island are too different now from the those of the town and school district. Skyrocketing taxes and property values have islanders becoming disgusted with the town that has taxed, schooled, and ruled them for almost 200 years.

Although many year-round residents feel they pay more in taxes than they get back in services, the residents who are most outspoken about seceding from the mainland say that money is not the primary issue at hand. Many feel that the Cumberland government doesn’t take their needs into account sufficiently, and things will just continue to get worse. "This is not about money or taxes at all," said one year-round resident who supports the secession petition. "It’s about the character of the community."

Chebeague Island By the Numbers

Data relating to the population of the island and the taxes they pay paints a vivid picture of Chebeague Island’s struggle with the mainlaind school district:

• Number of Maine islands with year-round populations in 1900: 300
  
• Number of Maine islands with year-round populations in 2005: 15
  
• Year-round population of Chebeague Island, Maine: 356
  
• Estimated summer population of Chebeague Island, Maine: 1,700
  
• Number of passengers traveling to Chebeague Island on island ferries in 2004: 151,773
  
• Total amount in 2006 property taxes Chebeague Islanders will pay to the mainland school district that educates island children: $1,551,000
  
• Approximate annual amount neighboring Long Island pays to educate Long Island schoolchildren: $395,000
  
• Amount Chebeague Islanders will pay per island student to the mainland school district that educates island children: $34,466.67
  
• Approximate annual amount Long Island pays per pupil to educate its 31 schoolchildren: $12,700
  
• Annual per pupil cost for salaries, supplies, equipment and textbooks for students at the Chebeague Island School: $10,652
  
• Annual per pupil cost for salaries, supplies, equipment and textbooks for mainland elementary school students in the same school district as the Chebeague Island School: $6,066
  
• Approximate annual savings due to proposed elimination of the 4th and 5th grades at the Chebeague Island School: $50,000
  
• Proposed 2005-2006 budget for the mainland school district that includes the Chebeague Island School: $23,853,245