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Plan sets '08 deadline for consolidation
By KEITH EDWARDS
Staff Writer Kennebec Journal & Morning Sentinel Saturday, March 24, 2007

AUGUSTA -- The latest state committee to take a crack at school system consolidation wants to see school districts of at least 2,500 students formed by July 1, 2008. But the collaboration would be optional.

State legislators on the subcommittee on education formed by the Appropriations Committee are still working to come up with their recommendations to reduce the cost of education administration in Maine.

Friday morning, they reached consensus on some of the controversial issues that divided the Education Committee as it sought to come up with an alternative to Gov. John Baldacci's plan to slash the number of school districts in Maine from 290 to 26. The governor sees the potential to save $250 million over three years by dramatically cutting school administrative costs.

Where the Education Committee forwarded a plan to set a minimum district size of 1,200 students, the subcommittee now working on education reform favors larger districts of at least 2,500 students. A 2004 analysis by David Silvernail, director of the Maine Education Policy Research Institute at the University of Southern Maine, found the most efficient Maine schools had between 2,500 and 3,000 students.

Having districts with that many students would likely lead to between 50 and 60 school districts in Maine, twice the number proposed by the governor.

However, subcommittee members said that while school districts would be directed to consolidate with other schools until they had at least 2,500 students, doing so would not be required.

Sen. Karl Turner, R-Cumberland, noted there should be room for exceptions, especially in the rural parts of the state where the population is so sparse it would be hard to come up with districts that make sense with that many students.

The subcommittee suggested the Department of Education work with schools to help them form consolidated districts by Dec. 1. The department also could determine whether there are exceptions in certain regions where the new school districts should be smaller than 2,500 students.

If schools don't take action by Dec. 1, the state Board of Education would step in and have the power to set consequences for school units that don't comply.

The subcommittee's deadline also is more ambitious than the Education Committee's plan, which Baldacci criticized as not doing enough to spur savings by reducing the cost of educational administration statewide.

The Education Committee would have required school consolidation by 2010, while the subcommittee's consensus Friday was to set a July 2008 deadline, the same deadline in Baldacci's plan.

Addressing another controversial piece of Baldacci's proposal, the subcommittee struggled to determine the best size for the new school boards that would oversee the new, consolidated school units.

Baldacci's proposal called for consolidated school boards with a maximum of 15 members. His plan faced criticism because some consolidated districts would have more than 15 municipalities within their borders, so there wouldn't be enough spots on the board for each town to have its own representative.

Subcommittee members are considering a maximum number of board members between 15 and 25, though they were not able to agree on a specific number Friday.

Turner suggested a maximum of nine to 13 members, saying if boards get too large, they won't be able to function efficiently.

"There is a size at which the board becomes ineffective," he said. "I don't think we serve efficiency well by having 50 members on a school board."

However, subcommittee member Rep. Sawin Millet Jr., R-Waterford, warned that too few board members will alienate towns without their own representation on the board.

"I can't imagine districts of this size with only nine board members," he said. "You'll be leaving some towns out. You're going to isolate a lot of towns that would have nobody sitting at the table."

The subcommittee, which initially had been expected to report its recommendations to the full Appropriations Committee Friday, is still working on its proposal and plans to meet this morning from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. for more work on school consolidation.

"We need to start putting the pieces of the puzzle together," said subcommittee member Rep. Emily Cain, D-Orono.

Keith Edwards -- 621-5647

kedwards@centralmaine.com


Reader comments

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George Crawford of Harrington, ME
Mar 24, 2007 8:24 PM
The districts of 2500 students are too big for rural Maine. In Washington County, a district of 2500 students would encompass thge entire county. Under Baldacci's plan, there were two districts. The plan of the Appropriations Committee is unworkable for rural schools.
The Education Committee's size of 1200 is more doable in rural Maine due to the distances involved. This plan leaves many unanswered questions. Where are they going to have a budget meeting for such a large district?
The governance structure of the district doesn't take into consideration rural towns that have up til now run their own schools in a school union. Many smaller towns would be left without representation on the regional board and the boards would be dominated by the larger towns because of the weighted votes if the SAD governace model is followed. This would mean the closure of small rural schools.
The issues of the larger districts taking over the assets of the existing schools and leaving the towns with the debt has also not been addressed. Also the lack of a vote of the people as to whether or not school districts should be consolidated has also been abandoned in terms of saving money in the state budget.
The savings of larger districts has not been proven beyond a doubt and the whole process seems rushed. The Governor had the audacity to say to say the other day that when he proposed 26 school districts that he didn't want to step on anybody's toes and all we really need is one.
The whole process means the birth of a buereaucracy in Maine with the larger districts. With Superintendents, Assistant Superintendents, and the loss of local decision making and local democracy to a buereaucracy.
The Governor and the Appropriations Committee isn't listening to all of the people. At least the Education Committee did! To them I say "Thank you!"

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jb04330 of Augusta, ME
Mar 24, 2007 9:50 AM
I'm not clear in this reporting if consolidation is mandatory or voluntary. From what I heard from people in the room, there is a consensus that consolidation must be mandatory for there to be any cost savings. We know that voluntary efforts have not worked in the past.

You go on to report in this article "If schools don't take action by Dec. 1, the state Board of Education would step in and have the power to set consequences for school units that don't comply."

Sounds like mandatory to me!

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