By MECHELE COOPER

Staff Writer

For Jefferson, Whitefield and Chelsea -- the three towns in School Union 132 -- the past looks much like the future.

Those towns submitted their consolidation plans to the state's Board of Education on Wednesday. Chelsea and Whitefield's school committees propose joining Palermo, Somerville, Windsor and Jefferson to form a six-town consolidated regional school unit.

Five years ago, those towns made up School Union 51, which split apart in July 2002.

The Jefferson School Committee submitted a letter with three consolidation plans:

n The six-town regional school unit listed above.

n Joining School Union 74, (Bremen, Bristol, Damariscotta, Newcastle, Nobleboro and South Bristol), plus Southport and Community School District 49 (Boothbay and Boothbay Harbor).

n Joining School Union 74, Southport, CSD 49 and Alna.

"What the letter of intent does is says who you're going to explore a partnership with as a regional school district," Superintendent Frank Boynton said Thursday. "It's not a final thing."

Boynton said the coastal towns Jefferson is considering were part of the original map put out by the education commissioner's office.

"They were encouraged to look at that," he said. "The thing that comes up most frequently is cost, but they're also trying to focus on programs and school needs. And (secondary) school choice is an issue. All of the towns I serve have a choice for high schools and they want to maintain that."

School Union 132 has contracts with Augusta and School Administrative District 16 (Farmingdale and Hallowell) to accept high school students, but those students can attend any high school. If they do, parents must to pay 10 percent of the cost.

Bob Westrich, chairman of the Jefferson School Committee, said three intent letters were filed because of a split committee.

Part of the committee wanted to join the six-town unit because the Jefferson school had a history with the old Union 51 schools and compete against them in sports.

The other members of the committee liked what the coastal towns had to offer, he said, as far as teachers' workshops and innovative education programs.

"But as it turns out (this year), we would save $242,700 by not going with the old Union 51," he said. "For '09, we would save $267,000. And these are numbers generated from the state, which judges the amount a town should pay based on their valuation.

"We have the potential of improving the education of our children and at the same time saving money. I don't want to say it, but it's a no-brainer."

Mechele Cooper -- 623-3811, Ext. 408

mcooper@centralmaine.com