Currents in Education
The fight is not over yet
By Jennifer L. Saunders
YORK - Town and school officials have a message for Augusta.
As Selectmen Vice Chairman Dwight Bardwell put it, "This is going to be a horrendous thing for not only York, but for many places. ... The fight is well worth it."
The School Committee hosted an informational discussion and presentation on the latest version of the school consolidation plan coming down from Augusta when it met last Wednesday, May 2.
The full Board of Selectmen, along with several local residents and two of the candidates in the upcoming May election, were among those who attended the meeting.
The message from the selectmen to the School Committee was to explore every avenue to fight the mandate expected to come from the Legislature's Appropriations Committee to cut school districts in the state to a maximum of 80.
Then at Monday's Board of Selectmen meeting, Bardwell noted that he and Selectman Len Dorrian had already met Sunday with Tim Fitzgerald and John D'Aquila of the School Committee and a letter has been drafted detailing York's reasons for opposition to the plan. Additionally, he said, the School Department is considering working with other school districts to present a unified front against the forced consolidation.
For his part, Dorrian said the town should use any and all legal avenues to oppose the plan.
Speaking at last Wednesday's meeting, School Committee Chairwoman Patty Hymanson pointed out that while the Brookings Institute report often quoted by Augusta was a "well-reasoned plan," Gov. John Baldacci's initial proposal instead compressed more than 250 school districts into 26 - without any warning - and with York being forced into a district of 19,000 students.
Since that time, the governor's plan has been amended by the Education Committee, chaired by Sen. Peter Bowman, D-Kittery, into a version Scipione previously described as more reasonable and in keeping with the concerns about educational quality and local control expressed by school and municipal officials and voters from across the state.
The Appropriations Committee, however, has taken a different path to achieve the $35.6 million in savings Baldacci factored into his state budget as part of his Local Schools, Regional Support plan, and the Education Committee's version is off the table.
"I certainly haven't seen any kind of breakdown of what that $36.5 million is being made out of," agreed School Committee Vice Chairwoman Marilyn Zotos. "... It just seems to be a number that has come out of a hat."
Hymanson and other officials noted there have been no concrete numbers presented - even when Bardwell asked Education Commissioner Susan Gendron that question directly at a regional meeting - as to just how those funds would be achieved.
"We, as a board, and the superintendent, have supported the idea of thoughtful consolidation," Hymanson said, pointing out that is not what this is. "... Here we have an Appropriations Committee making educational policy for the state of Maine."
Superintendent of Schools Dr. Henry Scipione explained that in the current plan each regional school unit (RSU) would be recommended by the state and not be determined by the electorate, and every community in Maine would be required to participate.
The draft plan calls for the new RSUs to be in place and functioning by July 1, 2008, with new unit boundaries; i.e., the towns and cities encompassed by the units, by June 1 of this year.
"Local school units would have 60 days within which to suggest alternatives," Scipione said of the state's recommended RSUs. "This action would abolish all school administrative districts, CSDs, unions and municipal school units."
From there, he said, each municipality must have a transition plan with a state-provided facilitator, a local reorganization planning committee to determine the size of the new RSU school board and its composition, the method of voting and the disposition of school property and local debt for the fiscal 2009 budget cycle, and an interim personnel policy in place by Nov. 15 of this year.
Those plans must be approved by the education commissioner by Dec. 31, he said, or the Maine State Board of Education will determine the plan.
Regional school boards would have the authority to require the transfer of property title to the RSU, he said, and the RSU must assume the debt of any state-subsidized project but the assumption of locally-funded debt - such as York's school projects - would be optional, meaning the RSU could vote to leave that debt with the town while York helped pay off state-funded projects in other communities..
Local referendum votes on all budgets would be required with six expenditure articles, and the referendum process would be repeated until the RSU budget is approved.
The plan states that no schools will be closed in the year ahead, but could be closed after that by a two-thirds vote of regional board. If the local community then voted to keep the school open, it would be required to absorb all costs while still contributing to the RSU.
The plan also calls for 5 percent cuts to special education services, transportation and maintenance beginning in fiscal 2009.
School Committee member Mary Jane Merrill pointed out that these decisions are being made in Augusta, by a committee that knows nothing about York or its educational system.
"The ramifications, because of the timeline, could go on and on and on," she said.
The plan is said to generate $36.5 million in state savings with the specifics yet to be defined.
"The proposal is part of the full budget bill. It is not a stand-alone," Scipione said, adding there is no opt-out provision for communities and no chance for the public to vote.
The ultimate decision will be made as part of the state budget vote by the Legislature in the weeks ahead.
"The part that bothers me the most is the lack of an opt-out," Bardwell said, urging residents to contact their local representatives and push for the inclusion of such a provision. "The way you get this to collapse is if the donor towns all say no."
Selectman Mike Estes brought up the possibility of privatization, and Assistant Superintendent Jim Amoroso said the key issue there is one of public and private funding, not just state and federal aid, and the legal implications would need to be explored.
The selectmen and School Committee members agreed the state's mandate takes away York's home rule and has serious educational implications for the quality of local schools.
"Just the games he played to put it into the budget and make somebody act on it are almost communist," Estes said of Baldacci's initial plan. "... You won't even really have a say on how your kids are educated anymore."
Families with the financial means, he said, will be taking their children out of Maine's public schools.
"It's a bad plan," he said, adding, "hopefully the Legislature ... will shut down the state or something so some logical people can make some decisions."
With two-thirds of the town's operating budget funding school costs, Selectmen Chairman David Marshall said this plan would mean a significant change for local control.
"The charter would no longer really have much bearing on how we run our government," he said, pointing out that the plan creates another layer of government, the RSU, that will take York's money and decide how to spend it.
Fitzgerald pointed out that there are mandates governing special education, and now the state is planning to require cuts in funding for those services.
"Where that leads is to more legal challenges," Hymanson said. "With a timetable that is so swift, you can't help but think it isn't going to be done right. Bottom line, the kids are going to suffer."
Bardwell said he has spoken with Rep. Windol Weaver, R-York, who is not in support of the plan.
"He knows it's bad for York and said he will vote no," Bardwell said of the budget proposal "This isn't a done deal yet."
If the Legislature supports the state budget, the Class of 2007 could be the final graduating class of York High School as it currently exists, Zotos pointed out.
"To do all of this, just grabbing a number out of the air with no facts or figures, somebody has to hold them accountable," Marshall said of the state. "I think we really need to demand some information."
The School Committee and selectmen agreed to explore the legal language of an opt-out provision to present to York's legislators.
"We're in fight mode," D'Aquila said. "I think we have to prioritize those actions that we're going to get the most impact out of first."
In the meantime, an internet petition has been created to urge the Legislature to vote against any state budget draft that includes the consolidation plan. For more on the effort, visit www.ipetitions.com/petition/Consolidation.
"I think we should absolutely do everything in our power to not support this, because it is wrong - absolutely wrong." Bardwell said. "...I think it's worth the fight. We may lose, but I think it's worth the fight."
For more on the implications for York, visit http://www.yorkschools.org/.
