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By KEITH EDWARDS
Staff Writer Sunday, August 05, 2007

Staff Writer

Some potential new regional school partnerships are starting to emerge.

In some cases, reluctantly.

But things are far from settled, and an update of where local school systems are in finding consolidation partners sounds less like fact and more like chatty school cafeteria gossip about who has a crush on whom.

Augusta is talking to Gardiner-based School Administrative District 11 and Union 52, which includes China, Vassalboro, and Winslow. But Union 52 is also talking with Union 133, which includes Windsor, Palermo, and Somerville, and has also talked with Waterville.

Union 133, meanwhile, is flirting with both Union 52 towns and the Union 132 towns of Chelsea, Whitefield and Jefferson, with the possibility of all three former school unions getting together in a single new regional school unit.

Those who find such chatter confusing, even frustrating, aren't alone.

Local school officials said school reorganization rules passed by the last Legislature targeted savings of $36.5 million a year by cutting the number of school districts in Maine from 290 to 80. But it also left many questions unanswered.

After SAD 11 Superintendent Paul Knowles explained the district's efforts to comply with state rules requiring schools to consolidate -- rules he described as full of inconsistencies -- Eric Jermyn, a school board member in SAD 11, was miffed.

"It's extremely frustrating," Jermyn said. "I can't imagine this was the intent of the state law."

But four weeks remain before an Aug. 31 state deadline for each Maine school unit to file a letter of intent with the state Department of Education.

That letter must state which other school units they intend to partner with in order to reach the new minimum school unit size of 2,500 students. Or it must state the school system will pursue an alternative plan.

If filing an alternative plan, school systems must note which exemption to consolidation requirements applies to them.

Potential exceptions are most readily available to island schools, tribal schools and geographically isolated schools.

There is also the so-called "doughnut-hole exemption," which could exempt school units unable to find partners in their area as long as they can demonstrate they made good faith efforts to find one.

Only six school units statewide have already filed letters of intent with the state as of Friday, according to spokesman David Connerty-Marin.

None of them are from central Maine.

"We expect to get most of them in the last few days and right up to the wire," Connerty-Marin said.

"We don't have any reason to believe they're not going to" meet the deadline.

So who could end up finding partners, and who could end up as the proverbial hole in the doughnut?

So far, it has been the larger school districts such as Augusta and SAD 11 -- which includes Gardiner, West Gardiner, Pittston and Randolph -- that have been having the hardest time finding partners.

Augusta Superintendent Cornelia Brown said some smaller school units have been reluctant to partner with larger school systems.

Brown said that's because they're afraid they would have little say or voting power on the new regional school board because their representatives would always be outnumbered by representatives from the larger former district.

Union 133 Superintendent Greg Potter said that is a concern in the small towns in and around his school union.

"People are concerned about local say, local input, local control," Potter said.

"Some fear if you join with a really large district like Augusta, your input would be really small. I think they're looking for as equal a say as they can get with other towns while at the same time making sure we can service all students.

"There is a desire of these towns to continue to be able to have the choices they have now. If that can happen and efficiencies can be improved, I think a plan that meets that criteria could stand a chance of passing."

Potter said it looks as if his Union 133 towns of Palermo, Windsor and Somerville are likely to file letters of intent stating they'll try to form a new regional school unit with the Union 132 towns of Chelsea, Whitefield and Jefferson, as well as the Union 52 towns of China, Vassalboro, and, possibly, Winslow.

However, the Union 52 towns, especially Winslow, which has its own high school, are also considering other options, including a partnership with Waterville schools.

Elaine Miller, superintendent of Union 52, has her own metaphor to describe grappling with the sometimes ambiguous law.

"Like flying the plane but we don't have the landing gear yet," she said.

Union 52 is essentially dissolved by the law, which makes the process particularly complex for Miller, whose job is to advise each town.

"Each individual town has to figure out what is in the best interest of their town," said Miller, "and a lot of it is going to boil down to finances."

China, Vassalboro and Winslow want to continue to work together.

But Miller said they will need new partners to find the required savings.

Their potential partner towns, however, also have other prospective partners.

"You can reach out for a dance partner, but if they don't want to dance with you, you don't have a partnership," said Miller.

A 15-member consolidation committee made up of representatives of the Maranacook Area Schools/ Union 42 towns of Readfield, Manchester, Mount Vernon and Wayne has been meeting to form their plan to consolidate.

They're discussing joining together in a new regional school unit with Monmouth, Winthrop and Fayette.

Co-chairman Malcolm Hardy of Mount Vernon said Thursday that Union 42 has 1,395 students; Fayette, 164; Monmouth, 801 and Winthrop, 865.

"My reaction is that we ought to have a minimum of 2,500 so we don't have other communities thrust upon us who cannot find a partner," said Milt Wright, a consolidation committee member from Readfield.

Monmouth, according to multiple officials from other school districts, also has been talking about joining a district with others, including Hall-Dale and Richmond.

The savings Gov. John Baldacci and other proponents claim consolidation will save are already baked into the budget -- the state will cut its funding for administration by 50 percent in the 2008-09 school year, from $359 per student, to $204 per student.

The per-pupil allocation for special education, transportation and facilities and maintenance also will be reduced, by 5 percent.

Those cuts will be made whether districts consolidate or not.

SAD 11 board vice-chairman Steve Hunnewell of West Gardiner said the 50 percent cut in state funding for administration alone could mean $350,000 to $400,000 less in state funds annually for the district.

However, Connerty-Marin noted those cuts are to be made from increased levels of state funding.

"There is this $36.5 million reduction in these specific areas but, overall, the funding in '08-'09 is going to go up by $43.5 million," Connerty-Marin said.

He said Education Commissioner Susan Gendron has committed the Department of Education to review the letters of intent and to approve or reject them within 15 days.

School units then have until Dec. 1 to submit their reorganization plans or alternative plan to the commissioner, and form a regional planning committee made up of representatives of the schools and municipalities, and the general public, in the areas involved.

The plans must be fairly comprehensive, especially considering the short amount of time schools have to put them together.

For schools forming new regional school units, the plans are supposed to include not just who they're partnering with, but also specify the structure of the new regional school board and a financial plan that includes what will become of the assets and liabilities of the former school units.

If those plans are approved by the commissioner, Jan. 15, 2008, is the next deadline for schools to meet.

That's the deadline for holding a municipal referendum vote on forming the new regional district in each of the municipalities making up the proposed regional school system.

July 1, 2008, is the suggested start date of new regional school units approved at the Jan. 15. referendum.

And July 1, 2009, is the latest possible start date of new regional school units.

Units that vote against reorganization will face financial penalties starting on July 1, 2009, that include a 50 percent reduction in minimum state subsidy, a further 50 percent reduction in system administration funds and less favorable consideration in approval and funding for school construction.

Staff writers Alan Crowell and Elizabeth Comeau contributed to this story.

Keith Edwards -- 621-5647

kedwards@centralmaine.com

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