Draft agreements prepared by withdrawal committees from both Wiscasset and Westport Island have been sent to Sheepscot Valley Regional School Unit (RSU) 12 and both committees are waiting to meet with the RSU to start negotiations.
Westport Island had sent its draft agreement on Sept. 9, according to Gerald Bodmer, chair of the town’s withdrawal committee.
A public meeting between the RSU’s and Westport Island’s withdrawal committees will take place at Wiscasset High School at 6 p.m. on Tues., Nov. 27, according to interim RSU 12 Supt. Alan Hawkins
Hawkins said the RSU has received a draft agreement from Wiscasset as well, and a meeting may be possible during the second week of December.
Based on the recently released draft agreements from both towns, Wiscasset would become a stand-alone school district, Wiscasset #2 School Administrative Unit (SAU), and Westport Island would join with a currently undetermined school district or alternative organizational structure (AOS) or form its own SAU.
According to the draft agreement, should the new Westport Island SAU choose not to join another school system within two years of the approval of the withdrawal agreement, upon a majority vote of the town’s residents, Westport Island will be reinstated as a full member of RSU 12.
For the first year after withdrawal, which schools students attend would potentially remain the same. In accordance with state statute, students in both towns would be allowed to attend the schools they would have attended if the town had not withdrawn.
Based on the draft agreement, the three RSU schools in Wiscasset would be deeded to the town of Wiscasset. The new SAU would provide educational services to students in grades K-12, including those requiring special education.
Westport Island’s agreement includes a provision for its students to continue their education at RSU 12 schools through high school graduation, if they are enrolled in an RSU 12 school at the end of the 2013-14 school year.
Under the draft agreement, until Westport Island joins a different school unit, RSU 12 would provide administrative, educational, special education, and transportation services to the town’s students. The RSU would agree to accept all students from Westport Island for up to 10 years, unless superseded by an agreement with a different school system.
Oversight
According to Wiscasset’s draft agreement, “the administration and governance of education for students residing in Wiscasset” would transfer from the RSU to the SAU as of July 1, 2013.
The RSU 12 board members from Wiscasset would serve as a “transition team” until an initial school committee is elected; recommending a budget for the fiscal year 2013 school year as well as performing “any other duties to ensure a smooth transition.”
Westport Island included a contract for management services, effective from July 1, 2013 to June 30, 2015, as an appendix of their draft agreement. Under the contract, the Superintendent of Schools for the RSU would also serve as such for Westport Island.
The RSU would provide administrative support, oversight of special education and curriculum, and reporting and accounting services, according to the contract.
Westport Island would have two members on the RSU 12 school board as long as the majority of its students attend RSU 12 schools. The members would be limited to voting on curriculum and non-fiscal matters. All fees listed the management services contract are marked as “TBD” or to be determined.
Bonds and debt
According to Maine law, whenever municipalities withdraw from an RSU that has outstanding debt, the RSU will remain intact for the purpose of securing and retiring the debt, except when a withdrawal agreement provides “an alternate means” for retiring the outstanding debt.
According to Hawkins, RSU 12 is indebted on bonds for both the Chelsea Elementary School and the Windsor Elementary School, both Wiscasset and Westport Island are responsible for paying their allocated share of the outstanding debt on those bonds.
Westport Island’s draft agreement provides an alternate means, where the Maine Dept. of Education would pay Westport Island’s portion of existing state-approved debt service for the two schools directly to the RSU, who would pay the Maine Municipal Bond Bank to reduce the debt.
The agreement also includes a provision for the RSU to release Westport Island from any local-only debt service from an estimated $300,000 in principal and interest from the enhancement of the Chelsea Elementary School for use as a shelter, as Westport Island students “enjoy no benefit from this local Chelsea improvement.”
The RSU would agree to exclude Westport Island in retiring debt from any bonds, notes, or lease-purchase agreements that the RSU issues or enters during the fiscal year 2012-2013, according to the draft agreement.
Though worded differently, Wiscasset’s agreement has a substantially similar clause in its agreement regarding debt incurred during the 2012-13 school year.
Wiscasset’s agreement includes an recognition that the new SAU will be responsible for 35.08 percent of the RSU’s debt resulting from the purchase of seven new school buses since February of 2010, with a total remaining balance of $383,581.36 as of June 30.
Collective bargaining
According to Wiscasset’s draft agreement, “all continuing contract teachers” assigned to the three schools in Wiscasset as of June 30, 2013 would become continuing contract teachers of the SAU.
The SAU would assume control over the RSU’s existing collecting bargaining agreements as they those employees.
Westport Island’s draft agreement states that its withdrawal would not affect any of the RSU’s collective bargaining agreements.
Transportation
The Wiscasset #2 SAU would provide transportation to its students in the same manner Wiscasset provided before it joined the RSU, according to the draft agreement.
Titles of RSU-owned buses previously held by Wiscasset would be returned to the SAU.
In addition to those buses, new buses would need to be purchased by the SAU, or an agreement would need to be made to transfer some of the RSU buses purchased since 2010 to the SAU, with the SAU assuming the remainder of the balance on those buses.
Westport Island’s agreement includes a draft transportation agreement, for the RSU to provide transportation for Westport Island students to Wiscasset and other RSU 12 schools “consistent with the level of service provided to Westport Island students in the school year 2012-13.”
All fees listed the transportation contract are marked as “TBD” or to be determined.
