York Town News
Consolidations move forward
By Jennifer L. Saunders
SEAFARER’S FAIR. Eighth-grade students at York Middle School exhibited their oceanography-related projects between the gazebo and pavilion at Ellis Park, Short Sands Beach, last Wednesday, June 6. Aptly named the “Seafarer’s Fair,” the event was part of a Service Learning Project to create a renewed awareness and appreciation of York’s coastal environment. The theme centered on ecology and included various types of wetlands, species diversity, invasive species, water quality monitoring, pollution and the sea. There were a variety of exhibits and activities, including an assortment of seafood dishes, puzzles and games, crab races, origami sea creatures, live fish and lobsters to touch, poetry cards made by the students with retiring English teacher Jan Walsh, and seafaring music to echo the sounds of the ocean waves.
Courtesy photo
Gov. John Baldacci shares a lighthearted moment with state legislators during the signing of the fiscal 2008 and 2009 budget in Augusta.
Courtesy photo
YORK and OGUNQUIT - The governor has signed the state budget into law, and local communities must now begin the process of exploring the matches made in Augusta for the state's new school consolidation plan.
For York, that means proposing a plan to consolidate with Kittery. Ogunquit and Wells are expected to join with the Kennebunks.
"We're still frankly trying to sort through the legislation and determine what the language means," York Superintendent of Schools Dr. Henry Scipione said Tuesday.
Conversations are beginning with Kittery, he confirmed, adding he and Kittery Superintendent of Schools Larry Littlefield were planning to meet on Wednesday.
"We're meeting really to raise the questions and figure out a game plan of how to address this," he said.
The Maine Legislature approved the 2008-2009 state budget, which will go into effect on July 1, with a House vote of 112 to 29 in support and a Senate vote of 28 to 7 in favor of the $6.318 billion budget.
"In the end it was agreed that rather than run all the amendments individually those generally agreed upon as responsive to the concerns raised would be consolidated into one amendment and be presented by the Appropriations Committee," explained Rep. Dawn Hill, D-York, who represents several communities, including Ogunquit and a portion of York.
For York, which is a minimum receiver town in terms of state aid, amendments to the budget fell in line with concerns raised by local officials just days before the vote.
"Rather than lose 100 percent of minimum subsidies a minimum receiver such as York would now be cut back by 50 percent," Hill said of the budget bill as approved, adding, "As for Ogunquit they will obviously be consolidating with a unit so penalties will not effect them. I think the impact on Ogunquit will depend on which unit they design a plan with."
As approved, the budget calls for $36.5 million in administrative savings with a goal of 80 school districts statewide, serving at least 2,500 students each.
According to a House Republican Office synopsis of the budget, "Communities will now have until June 2008 to hold a final vote on consolidation and some school units will be exempt if their schools are found to be high-achieving and spend below the state average in cost-per-pupil. Penalties for school districts that do not consolidate administrative services in time have also been either cut in half or drastically reduced."
The timeline, as it has been approved by the Maine Legislature, requires the towns that have been matched for consolidation to submit their proposals to the Department of Education by Dec. 1. The plan will then be presented to local voters, who will have the final say on whether their schools consolidate with other towns.
The vote came just days after York town and school officials met with state legislators to discuss the plan.
Following that meeting, Rep. Windol Weaver, R-York, filed an amendment on behalf of town and school officials seeking a reduction in penalties for towns like York, which receives the smallest amount of state aid possible under the law, that choose to opt out of the consolidation.
Of the approximately 50 amendments submitted between the House and Senate - including Weaver's amendment on behalf of the town - the final version includes provisions with opt-out penalties that are less severe than first proposed.
"The amended vote included an adjustment at 50 percent," Scipione told the York School Committee at its most recent meeting. "If we're using the same figures of $2.2 million, we would get $1.1 million."
The York School Department has an obligation under the plan to develop a model of consolidation with Kittery.
"It was never really shown how it improved education," School Committee Chairwoman Marilyn Zotos said, adding the state mandate will be taking time away from educationally-driven programming for administrators to instead begin crunching numbers. "It takes away from that timeframe and it remains to be seen how it's going to improve education."
In a statement released last week, Gov. John Baldacci praised the work of the legislators to come to a consensus.
"This budget represents a significant step forward for Maine and will help give our people a better opportunity for prosperity," Baldacci said. "The agreement, which passed with overwhelming bipartisan support, holds true to the core principles I have advocated throughout the budget process. We are reducing unnecessary administration in K-12 education and putting the emphasis in the classroom where it belongs. We are streamlining state government, especially in the area of human services, and we're investing in higher education and innovation."
Local officials, however, were breathing a collective sigh of relief that the approved plan differed so much from Baldacci's original "Local Schools, Regional Support" initiative, which would have lumped local schools into an 18-town "mega-district" with a center some 40 minutes away in Sanford.
"There was some talk of York looking like we just don't want to participate ... but the reason this board and the School Committee took such a hard approach to this is because it started with a proposal that we were going to be merged with 18 towns," York Selectmen Vice Chairman Dave Marshall said Monday.
Marshall said he believes the opposition from York and many of its neighboring communities made a significant impact on the final outcome being far removed from the original plan.
"I think this whole board has stated at one time or another that we're very interested in discussions with Kittery," he said, stressing the local concerns relate to York's home rule charter and status as a "donor town" to the state and the county. "We are in a lot better shape than we could have been."
Selectman Dwight Bardwell said that key information in the months ahead will be to determine whether the cost of consolidating with Kittery exceeds the $1.1 million the town will lose in state education funding if it opts out. He suggested the board give the School Department time to work on the plan, and stand by to assist as needed.
"They have to talk to Kittery ... and go through and start to put together a plan for what this would look like," he said, adding, "If that cost is more than $1.1 million, then it makes no sense not to opt out."
If the town's locally-funded school buildings must be turned over to the district, Bardwell said, that alone will exceed the $1.1 million figure.
Selectwoman Kinley Gregg noted she recently attended a Kittery School Committee meeting to get a sense of that community's position, and said the situation is similar to York's.
"Everyone is apprehensive, but talking," she said.
Local legislators supported the amendments to the budget, but were split on the budget itself.
"I voted against it because I know the York selectmen and School Committee did not want to consolidate," Weaver said.
He said he believes the actual budget, as approved, is a good approach and a step in the right direction, despite the consolidation requirement.
"Although we did not want school consolidation it is here. Now we, the people of York, need to look at all the options, decide the course of action and move on," he said. "I'm sure there will be many hours of study and discussion, then the voters will make the final choice."
Sen. Peter Bowman, D-Kittery, who represents both York and Ogunquit, said he is glad the budget passed both houses of the Maine Legislature.
"The school district consolidation portion of the budget bill has come a very long way since the governor's original submittal," he said. "Legislators listened to constituents and I believe that it is now in a form that will work for the whole state, including York and Ogunquit."
Hill offered a similar perspective.
"I know that change is difficult, but the numbers show that the educational system in Maine cannot sustain itself with increasing costs despite decreasing student population," she said. "The fact that districts have an opportunity to craft their own units and come together to strategize efficiencies maintains municipal and regional design preferences. For those who see the upside of consolidation, the legislation provides a fast track, and for those who need to process the legislation more and determine if it is a fit for them, the legislation affords a slower track. ... Reorganization of administration, special ed, transportation and maintenance functions will have to be done in a manner that will not adversely affect instructional programs."
Hill said she hopes the quality of education across the state will be maintained, and in some cases improved, by the plan, but the majority of York selectmen had a different perspective.
"I think it's a terrible thing for the state," Bardwell said, voicing a sentiment shared by several selectmen at the board's most recent meeting. "I think it's going to be a complete mess before its over."
Selectmen Chairman Mike Estes said the consolidation plan is "a huge thing for the taxpayers of York. This is not just a school issue."
Ultimately, as Zotos said when discussing the issue with the York School Committee, "It will be the community that will decide if we want to opt out or not."
