AUGUSTA -- The Board of Education voted unanimously Wednesday to provide superintendent, special education and business office services to the Georgetown school system.

In the proposed yearlong, pay-per-service agreement, Augusta would provide superintendent services, including policy development, oversight of administrative and professional staff, preparation of the annual school budget, and attendance at all school-board meetings. Those services could include up to a day per week of Superintendent Cornelia Brown's time.

Superintendent services would be billed at $447 per day.

Georgetown's only school is the 70-student Georgetown Central School, for children from kindergarten through grade six.

It's about an hour's drive from Augusta to the coastal community of Georgetown.

The geographically unlikely partnership brings together two schools unable to find satisfactory partners in the state's school consolidation effort, at least for a year.

After that the school systems could renegotiate or simply part ways.

"Both parties would review services mid-school year, to determine if it's working well," said Suzanne Allarie Dowling, board member.

Chairman William Burney said details of the contract still need to be worked out.

The Georgetown School Committee approved the agreement last week.

Nina Roth-Wells, chairwoman of the school committee in Georgetown, said Monday the agreement would officially start July 1 but, "We'd be working together immediately on the transition."

In July, Union 47, of which Georgetown is currently a member, will cease to exist. The other Union 47 towns of Arrowsic, West Bath, Woolwich and Phippsburg are joining Bath to form Regional School Unit 1.

However, Georgetown voters in November 2007 rejected joining RSU 1.

Augusta would provide special-education services, at a cost of $11,200 for the year, including participation in individual education-plan meetings, record keeping, oversight of compliance issues, and staff evaluation.

Business-office services including payroll, bookkeeping and frequent review of expenses and budgeting, would be billed at $20,300 for the year.

Georgetown could ultimately end up back with its fellow Union 47 schools in the to-be-formed RSU 1, but not this year.

Georgetown received a letter from the chairman of the RSU 1 Board of Directors stating, according to Brown, it was not in the unit's best interest to add additional responsibilities to its central office staff and superintendent but noted "It may be possible for Georgetown to apply to become a member of RSU 1," in the future.

Brown said she has discussed the services requested by Georgetown with staff in Augusta and said they believe Augusta can deliver the proposed services.

The seeds for such an agreement were planted in a conversation between Augusta Board of Education member Susan Campbell and Georgetown School Committee member Kristin Malin at a Maine School Management Association gathering. Both are members.

Campbell said Malin mentioned Georgetown couldn't find a consolidation partner, so Campbell said she suggested the two school systems consider partnering.

Brown said the money paid by Georgetown to Augusta would go into a special revenue account to help offset central office expenses.

Keith Edwards -- 621-5647

kedwards@centralmaine.com