Penalties for non-compliance with the state’s school consolidation law means those units that do comply reap the benefits of those that do not.
“There should be a big chunk of change,” said Wiscasset Supt. Jay McIntire.
As of this week, an estimated $6 million in funds from penalties will go to units that have already complied with the law, according to David Connerty-Marin, director of communications for the state Dept. of Education (DOE).
“Because we followed the law, we’re eating the other towns’ lunch,” McIntire said.
Connerty-Marin said the DOE will distribute the funds to towns to assist the new units with start-up costs for the first two years of operation, but as yet the DOE has not decided the formula to determine how much each unit would receive.
Along with seven other towns, which voted last year to approve the consolidation plan for the Sheepscot Valley Regional School Unit, Wiscasset is in a position to have a reduction in its share of the unit’s budget, McIntire said.
“We should be one of the towns getting their money,” he said.
In general, the larger the community, the larger the penalty will likely be if they fail to comply, according to DOE spreadsheets on estimated penalties throughout the state.
Last week, voters in 14 of 18 towns’ proposed school consolidation units opposed their consolidation plans, making the total penalties high to benefit compliant units, and statewide 94 school systems have merged into 24 new regional units, Connerty-Marin said.
In addition, the DOE commissioner has approved 38 alternative plans, such as the Central Lincoln County School System, which Damariscotta and surrounding towns have just adopted, and 11 units, such as islands and Maine Indian education schools are exempt, according to Connerty-Marin.
“Now 80 percent of the students in the state are in units with approved plans,” he said.
At the outset, the new law met resistance from some towns that make up the Sheepscot Valley Regional United, but voters passed the measure in all of the towns involved in the plan, which the DOE commissioner later approved.
McIntire believes there will be budget increase for the newly formed Sheepscot Valley Regional School Unit which the penalties will help fund. Besides Wiscasset, towns making up the new unit include Alna, Westport Island, Whitefield, Somerville, Palermo, Windsor, and Chelsea.
“They (penalties) may or may not offset the budget increase,” he said.
Connerty-Marin said the DOE is continuing to reach out to those units still non-compliant and helping the interested ones to find systems to combine with them. He said in some cases the votes on the various consolidation plans across the state have been lopsided but others have been close.
“A number of small units are not there,” he said. “Some of them clearly do not have any intention of doing so but some of them clearly do. We’re prepared to work with those that want to continue to work.”
Currently, some of the units, which have not yet consolidated, have been looking at revised plans, he said.
DOE Commissioner Susan Gendron said last week in a press release, “We are turning our focus to the 24 regions where voters approved plans and will be assisting those school systems in transitioning to a regional unit.”
Gendron also spoke about DOE plans for those systems not complying with the law yet.
“We are already assisting the regions that voted to move forward in November with the work of combining budget, computer systems, transportation, and other functions,” she said. “And those who have not yet voted to reorganize, we are reaching out to every one of those school systems to see what they want to do next and how we can help. We are not walking away from them.”
Gendron said the task of facilitators is to help the new units to combine the educational programs, expertise, unique programs, curricula, and teaching philosophies, and the DOE will also provide $5000 planning grants.
To date, 284 out of the 290 school administrative units in the state have submitted locally drafted plans the commissioner has approved. More than half the regions that voted on reorganization plans approved their plans, according to DOE information.
