AOS vote is Monday for SAD 70, SAD 14, Orient, Bancroft

School consolidation is now in the hands of the voters for residents of SAD 70 and SAD 14, Bancroft and Orient as residents in the four communities will head to the polls Monday for a public referendum on whether the two districts should form an Alternative Organizational Structure (AOS).
    The following is a list of when polls will be open Monday to vote on the AOS referendum.
• Hodgdon — 9 a.m.-8 p.m. at the town office.
• Danforth —2-6 p.m. at the town office.
• Amity — 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the town office.
• Linneus — 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the town office.
• Ludlow — 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the town office.
• Orient — 3-7 p.m. at the town office.
• New Limerick — 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the town office.
Attempts to contact town officials in Haynesville, Cary and Bancroft to obtain poll times in those communities were not successfull.
Public hearings on the consolidation drew minimal turnout last week. At the SAD 70 public hearing Tuesday, Jan. 18, a total of 16 residents showed up to learn more about the AOS proposal and spent about 30 minutes asking questions on the plan.
The following night in Danforth, seven residents turned out for a second hearing on the AOS plan. The district held its public hearing on Jan. 12, with only a dozen residents attending. However, that hearing was held during a snowstorm, which prompted SAD 14 Superintendent Richard Cote to hold a second session on the subject, in the hopes that more individuals would turn out. Even fewer residents came for that second meeting.
Both SAD 70 Superintendent Bob McDaniel and Cote said there was a great deal of “misinformation” circulating among the two communities.
“An AOS board has absolutely no authority to close a school,” McDaniel said. “The only thing an AOS board can do is run the central office.”
Cote agreed.
“Their [AOS board] job is not to close schools,” Cote said. “Their job is not to do [teacher] contracts.”
In Danforth, there has been greater resistance to the AOS plan. Much of that resistance has come from the Community News, a publication in that area that is urging residents to vote down the AOS plan. Fears of school closure, having to send students to Hodgdon and having to change the school’s curriculum and calendar were at the forefront of the discussion Danforth.
Bob Berta, a teacher in the Danforth school district and writer for the Community News, said he interpreted the AOS statute differently than Superintendent Cote and cautioned that many school policies and the curriculum would need to be re-written if the district followed the AOS statute to the letter of the law.
“The statute is the statute,” he said.
Others thought that the consolidation plan offered an opportunity to reduce expenses.
“I have been an administrator for 25 years in the Special Ed field,” said Scott Richardson. “I didn’t agree when the law was passed by Governor Baldacci because it was ram-rodded down people’s throats. But, the tent of the law is to cut administration. In systems as small as East Grand and SAD 70, there can be savings.”
Still others expressed concern on how the new administration in Augusta would view consolidation plans.
“I’m concerned with what will happen in a month or two months when the new administration gets its policies in effect,” said resident Oliver Brittain. “Right now, if we vote this in, we have committed ourselves to this particular approach. If we vote it down now, we could simply revive it later. There’s too much insecurity and lack of detail of what can go on. There are two views on this matter and both are presented with total honesty, as to what is legal. We best protect ourselves and not commit to anything.”
In Hodgdon, residents and board members expressed support for the plan.
“It’s been a long road for us to get to where we are now,” SAD 70 board chairman Estela Lane said. “We feel this plan is the best way for both sides to keep local control of their schools.”
SAD 70 board member Laureen Asselin said there was also misconception about the teacher’s contracts and school calendar issue.
“People think having a consistent school calendar is the same as having an identical calendar, and that’s not the case,” she said. “We also don’t have to change all of the teacher’s salaries so they are equal. That’s a big misconception.”
“We are all centered around Region 2 for our calendars, so we are already using a consistent calendar,” McDaniel said.
Closing one of the two superintendent’s offices is also not in the discussion.
“The plan is to keep both central offices open for at least two years,” Cote said. “The goal is to give the AOS a chance to see where they can make up some savings. That’s not a bad plan.”
Under the proposal, SADs 70 and 14 would keep their separate school boards. According to both superintendents, the two school districts would retain control over all aspects of their schools, including curriculums, teacher negotiations, contracts and school calendar.
An AOS board, comprised of members from each area, would be created for the sole purpose of governing the combined central offices. The new AOS board comprised of 11 members, who are currently school board members, would be created for the purpose of governing the central office. The central office includes the superintendent, transportation director and special education.
One superintendent would be hired by the AOS board to govern the two districts. That superintendent would likely be paid more than what McDaniel and Cote are currently making, since their job responsibilities would increase. Cote, who was hired in July, is working on a part-time basis for SAD 14, while McDaniel is a full-time superintendent in SAD 70.
Cote said he was not interested in being the full-time AOS superintendent as he is retired.
SAD 70, since it has the largest population, would have seven members on the AOS board, while SAD 14 would have two and Orient and Bancroft would each have one. A weighted-vote method would be used with a total of 997 possible votes. SAD 70 members would each have 112 votes, while SAD 14 representatives would have 85; Orient 30 and Bancroft 12. The weighted vote of each member of the AOS board would be adjusted annually to reflect the current population of each municipality.
Reorganization has been an uphill climb for both districts. The two districts were involved in regionalization discussions with CSD 9 (Southern Aroostook), SAD 25 (Katahdin) and SAD 29 (Houlton) to form one, massive Regional School Unit. That plan failed at the polls in November 2008.
SADs 70 and 14 then began discussions in December of 2008 to form an AOS with CSD 9 and SAD 25. This effort once again failed at a referendum vote in January of 2009. SAD 70 was in extensive talks with SAD 29 to consolidate, but after a year of discussion, SAD 29 pulled out of the plan.
Consolidation in other areas
SAD 70 and 14, with a population of 669 students, are not the only districts voting on school consolidation this month. The following is a list of those schools who have submitted plans to reorganize, according to the Department of Education website.
• SAD 25 (Staceyville), CSD 9 (Southern Aroostook), Moro Plantation and Hersey will vote to form a Regional School Unit (RSU) for 824 students.
• SAD 31 (Howland) and SAD 41 (Milo) are voting to form an AOS that would result in a district with about 1,251 students.
• SAD 36 (Livermore Falls) and the Jay School Department are voting to form an RSU for 1,761 students.
Two other areas are also considering the formation of an AOS. Orrington/Dedham, with a combined student population of 825, have submitted a letter of intent to form an AOS. So too has SAD 58 (Kingfield) and SAD 74 (Anson), with a combined student population of 1,411.
There are currently 97 conforming school groups in the state, comprised of 11 AOS groups and 44 RSU group. Larger school districts, such as Bangor with a total enrollment of 3,830, were not required to consolidate.
There are also 19 schools that were exempt from consolidating due to their size and/or location. Many of those schools are located on islands, such as North Haven, Vinalhaven and Matinicus.
At the crux of the school consolidation issue is eliminating penalties non-conforming school districts are receiving from the state.
SAD 70 was penalized $93,000 last year and expects that figure to be nearly $100,000 this year, while SAD 14 was penalized nearly $23,000 for not consolidating. Each year that non-conforming schools do not consolidate the penalty goes up.
“It hurts them [SAD 70] a little bit more than it hurts us,” Cote said.
However, there is a movement at the Legislative level to repeal the school penalties.
Rep. Peter Edgecomb of Caribou, a retired school superintendent who served as an interim superintendent in both SAD 70 and SAD 29, has submitted a bill to repeal the penalties for those districts that have not consolidated. His is one of several bills with the same topic that is currently being discussed by the Education Committee.
“I witnessed the effort put forth by SAD 70 and SAD 29 to consolidate the two districts; first to form a new RSU and when that was not successful, an effort was made to join into an AOS,” Edgecomb said. “That plan also did not appear to be a good plan and was rejected by RSU 29. Knowing how costly the penalty is to the SAD 70 taxpayer, I promised their consolidation committee that I would submit legislation to repeal the penalty.”
Edgecomb said he believed that new Governor Paul LePage would support dropping the penalties.
“Governor LePage stated in a campaign appearance that he would support the repeal,” he said. “Several legislators have signed on as co-sponsors to support the bill. I am optimistic that this bill has a good chance of getting a favorable report out of the Education Committee and passing in the House and Senate.”
Edgecomb added that school consolidation has not been the cure that many believed it to be.
“SAD 70 is not the only school district struggling with the school consolidation law,” he said. “Some districts that have consolidated are having second thoughts about the decision. Not all districts have experienced savings.”
Lane, however, said she was not holding out hope that a new bill would pass in the state Legislature.
“Even if a bill does come forth to do away with the penalties, I can’t see any legislators in southern Maine agreeing to it,” she said. “I believe this [consolidation] is where we are at and what we need to do if we want to eliminate those fines.”
If the reorganization plan is approved at the polls, neither SAD 70 nor SAD 14 would be penalized in the upcoming 2011-12 school budget. However, if one of the districts votes it down, the plan as a whole will fail.