Consolidation plan passes in southern Aroostook

By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
    STACYVILLE — Reorganization will happen between two school districts in southern Aroostook County following Tuesday’s public referendum.
    SAD 25 (Stacyville, Patten, Sherman and Mount Chase); and CSD 9 (Island Falls, Dyer Brook, Oakfield, Merrill, Smyrna and Crystal) will join forces as a new Regional School Unit by July 1. The towns of Hersey and Moro Plantation are also included in the consolidation.
    The merger of the two school districts narrowly passed a referendum vote. In SAD 25, the measure was approved 149-117, while in CSD 9, the vote was even closer with 91 voting yes and 81 voting no. A detailed breakdown of the vote for SAD 25 reveals it was the smaller communities that carried the measure, while in CSD 9, voters in Island Falls helped push the measure through.
    The votes by town for SAD 25 were: Sherman, 50 yes and 32 no; Stacyville, 20 yes and 21 no; Patten 47 yes and 59 no; and Mount Chase 32 yes, five no.
    The votes by town for CSD 9 were: Crystal, eight yes and one no; Dyer Brook, six yes and 11 no; Island Falls, 55 yes and 12 no; Merrill, nine yes and 18 no; Oakfield, 14 yes and 30 no; and Smyrna, six yes and eight no.
    Hersey approved the consolidation with a 6-0 vote, while Moro Plantation endorsed the plan 2-0. CSD 9 certified its votes Wednesday evening, while SAD 25 certified its votes Thursday evening.
    SAD 25 Superintendent John Doe said the next step for the consolidation plan was to create an administrative secretary to oversee the election of a new RSU board. Any current school board member that wishes to serve on the new RSU board must take out nomination papers to be elected.
    “That new RSU board will then have to choose a new superintendent,” Doe said.
    Doe, who retired from SAD 25 last June, but was brought back to the district for one additional year in order to help see the consolidation process through, said he would not be seeking the new superintendent’s position for the RSU.
    “I am only here until June 30,” he said. “After that, there will be a new superintendent.”
    The new RSU will have a combined student population of 824 students, according to the state Department of Education website.
    The governing body of the new RSU will be made up of directors elected from each member municipality in the RSU. According to the plan, there will be 16 directors with two each from Island Falls, Oakfield, Patten and Sherman and one director each from Hersey, Moro Plantation, Crystal, Dyer Brook, Merrill, Smyrna, Mount Chase and Stacyville.
    Each board member will be elected to serve a three-year term, except that the initial terms of the members of the initial RSU Board shall be staggered so that six of the directors serve three 3-year terms, five of the initial directors serve two 2-year terms and five of the initial directors serve a 1-year term. The new board will also have a weighted vote system in order to provide the most equity between the two school districts.
    Under the new RSU, a unified collective bargaining agreement must be made for unionized employees.
    One thing that won’t change, at least not immediately, is the individual schools. Southern Aroostook Community School and Katahdin High School, as well as Katahdin Elementary will continue to exist. The new RSU board could decide to alter that plan in the future. As tuition students, those from Moro Plantation and Hersey will continue to have the option of which school they wish to attend.
    According to the RSU plan, the estimated savings through consolidation is estimated at $84,000 the first year; $65,000 the second year; and $50,000 the third year. Most of the savings come in the form of reduced or eliminated staffing positions.
    One new central office for the superintendent will also be created. According to Doe, the recommendation for that office will be Region 2 space at Southern Aroostook Community School, with the superintendent commuting between the two districts when needed.