AUGUSTA -- The dozens of school districts across Maine facing penalties for turning down school district consolidation plans were granted a yearlong reprieve from the fines Friday.

Gov. John Baldacci signed a bill that will delay penalties levied on small, mostly rural school districts whose residents voted against district mergers.

But his signature came with a caveat: Districts need to continue working toward mergers.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. James Schatz, D-Blue Hill, passed both chambers of the Legislature with more than two-thirds approval. The law takes effect immediately.

Baldacci characterized the move as one to help districts that worked to consolidate only to have voters turn down the proposals.

"This delay will give those districts working in good faith toward restructuring time to complete their work," Baldacci said in a statement released by his office.

In central Maine, the Fayette and Winthrop school systems, Kingfield-based School Administrative District 58 and Madison-based SAD 59 were among the 117 Maine school districts facing $5.1 million in penalties in the form of state aid cuts.

Maine's consolidation mandate was an effort to cut the number of districts in the state from 290 to 80 to reduce school administration costs. The law penalized districts that didn't comply by cutting half their state funds meant for district administration and requiring them to make up for the lost money with local funds.

Since the 117 school districts voted against consolidation proposals, Maine will have 218 districts on July 1.

"I think this is a very helpful opportunity for the towns that faced consolidation and faced the financial burden that, during these times, they could ill-afford," said Fayette Town Manager Mark Robinson, who lobbied legislators to back the penalty delay.

Fayette voters in January turned down a plan that would have combined the town's school system with the Maranacook and Winthrop school districts. Fayette faced a $38,000 penalty for its residents' vote against the consolidation plan. Winthrop faced a $176,000 levy.

Fayette has already approved a school budget for the 2009-10 academic year. Superintendent Briane Coulthard said earlier this month the town will likely carry the penalty money it's recouping into its 2010-11 budget.

Baldacci urged the 117 districts out of compliance with the law to produce new consolidation plans over the coming year.

"We cannot continue with the school administrative organizations of the past," he said in his statement. "Student enrollment in Maine is falling while the number of administrators has been growing. It's unsustainable."

The penalty written into the consolidation mandate was the law's primary enforcement mechanism. Delaying penalties doesn't change that fact, said David Connerty-Marin, spokesman for the Maine Department of Education.

"The reduced subsidy is still there for next year, and the year after, and each year after that," he said. "I think the districts are very clear on what's facing them if they don't conform. Everyone is becoming increasingly clear with the financial reality of the revenue picture."

The one-year penalty delay is the third piece of legislation signed into law this year that changes the consolidation law's penalty provision.

The biennial budget that takes effect July 1 includes a provision that exempts from penalties 17 districts whose voters approved merger plans but couldn't consolidate because of their partners' 'no' votes.

And earlier this month, Baldacci signed a bill that exempts three isolated, rural districts from having to comply with the consolidation law.

The consolidation mandate could become a moot point in November, however: Voters have a chance to repeal the law by statewide referendum.

Matthew Stone -- 623-3811, ext. 435

mstone@centralmaine.com