Staff Writer
HOULTON — Sorting out financial details for a consolidated school district is a slow process, SAD 29 Superintendent Steve Fitzpatrick told his board members at Monday’s meeting.
“We’re really still in the beginning stages as far as the financial part goes,” he told the board.
The Regionalization Planning Committee, made up of representatives from towns and school districts in the proposed Region 4, has been meeting since September to establish groundwork for a new, super-sized district.
The planning committee has been divided into four sub-committees, one of which is examining what the new district’s budget would look like. The financial sub-committee is also charged with demonstrating the cost-savings created by the state-mandated consolidation. But at the Nov. 5 school board meeting, Fitzpatrick told members of the Houlton school board that early estimates show the change costing SAD 29 taxpayers more.
“It could cost $400,000 and $500,000 in additional tax revenue to join the new region,” he said. “So, that is the challenge.”
Another sub-committee, led by SAD 29 Board Member Mark Bossie, is considering how to bring all the union contracts from SAD 70, SAD 29, CSD 9 and SAD 25 together in one district.
“What’s best is certainly not going to cost the region less in bringing them all together,” added Fitzpatrick.
Another part of the planning committee is handling governance issues, and a final sub-committee is in charge of the districts’ assets and liabilities.
Part of this discussion is the additional land that some schools have, and Fitzpatrick has asked Houlton board members to start thinking about SAD 29’s holdings. Near Houlton High School, the district has a 100-acre parcel known as the Bird Farm; some early discussions have involved whether or not that land could be turned over to the town of Houlton. Fitzpatrick is scheduled to talk with Town Manager Doug Hazlett about this issue. The district has at least one other property — 65 acres adjacent to Houlton Elementary and Houlton Southside schools.
In other business, the board considered the following items.
• The purchase of new accounting software for the central office was approved. The new software, estimated at $36,000, is expected to save the district roughly $9,000 each year in technical support costs.
• The retirements of Judi Britton, Wellington School librarian, and Sandra Plourde at Houlton High School were accepted. Resignations of board members Angela Wotton and Marcus Russell were also accepted.
• The board also approved a change to their regular meeting time of 7 p.m. During the winter months, meetings will convene at 6 p.m.
The next board meeting is scheduled for Monday, Dec. 3 at 6 p.m. at Houlton High School’s auditorium.
