The board of directors for Sheepscot Valley RSU 12 has formed a three person committee for the purpose of negotiating a contract for tuition and transportation with the Augusta School Department.
The ad hoc Committee for High School Student Tuition was formed at the Nov. 8 RSU 12 board meeting. Board members Joan Morin (Whitefield), John Begin (Chelsea) and Gary Emond (Windsor) volunteered to serve on the committee.
Interim Superintendent Alan Hawkins had reported to the board at their Sept. 13 meeting that about 20 RSU 12 students from Whitefield, Windsor, and Somerville were not picked up by buses from Cony High School on the first day of school.
The practice of busing students from those three towns was part of an informal agreement with the Cony administration that they had decided to discontinue, Hawkins said on Sept 13. Transportation had been arranged for the students of the three towns, he said.
At the Nov. 8 meeting, Hawkins said a current contract between Chelsea and Cony for tuition and transportation will expire at the end of this school year.
Hawkins said he had met with Cornelia Brown, the superintendent of the Augusta School Department, to discuss the issue of a new contract for RSU 12 students. It was recommended that committees from both boards of directors meet and resolve the issue as rapidly as possible, he said.
When board member William Stafford (Alna), asked why the RSU is a party to a contract busing students to a school of choice, board member Gerald Nault (Windsor) said since Chelsea was part of a school union prior to joining the RSU, responsibility for such contracts rested with the town itself, not the union.
According to the RSU 12 reorganization plan, “policies existing in the previous school districts” – in this case, the town of Chelsea’s contract – “shall continue to apply” after the RSU forms, until unit-wide policies are developed and adopted.
