YORK - Less than a month remains before the first deadline in the state's school consolidation plan, and representatives from York, Ogunquit and Wells continue to explore what a combined district would mean to local students and taxpayers.
As the work of the Reorganization Planning Committee goes on, however, local town officials and many educators remain concerned that this state mandate is the wrong fit for some communities.
At the York School Committee's most recent meeting on Oct. 17, for example, York High School Principal Bob Stevens updated the committee on the ongoing need for arts instructional space at the school, and spoke of the negative impact of the consolidation process on the goal of creating new music classrooms there.
"No one is going to argue with you about the need for the space. The arguments haven't gone away ... the frustration for the people who have to teach in those spaces grows exponentially," Stevens said.
The question is whether a project to add instructional space - a request that had to be withdrawn from last May's ballot due to legal concerns about the use of existing fund balance money that have since been addressed - should be addressed while the questions of school consolidation continue to loom.
Although town and school leaders, and the Budget Committee, had given vociferous support to the plan last spring, school officials are questioning now if the community would support such an addition as the decision of whether York, Wells and Ogunquit will have to merge into one district is yet to be made.
"I'm wholeheartedly convinced ... that consolidation is absolutely bad for our kids," Stevens told the School Committee, adding he has been active at the state level in trying to see this proposal brought to an end. "I think consolidation's bad for K through 12. ... I think there is an innate, uninformed belief that consolidate in an of itself is a good thing ... but when you start talking about costs, what you would lose ... what the implications are for kids," Stevens said it becomes clear the plan does not make sense for York. "It really boils down to whether you want people in Wells to make decisions about education for kids in York."
Stevens said he is concerned that any proposal for a building project would be ill-timed in the midst of the consolidation debate, he also said the need for instructional spaces remain, and the cost of construction is not going down.
"I worry that if consolidation goes through we may have forfeited our opportunity for a very long time to get anything out of this," he said.
As the Music Department continues to gain more and more student participants, Stevens said the auditorium cannot even fit the full chorus in the audience seats, never mind on the stage.
"The instructor can't be seen or heard," he said.
And school officials agreed that the situation at the Wells High School is similar, with a lack of instructional and performance space for their arts program.
"The question that is before the School Committee ... is, in essence, where do we go with this?" said Superintendent of Schools Dr. Henry Scipione.
School Committee member John D'Aquila said he believes the instructional space addition should be included in the capital review of town projects for the year ahead, regardless of consolidation.
"Consolidation or not, we're still going to have the issue with the high school," agreed Mary-Jane Merrill. "These kids don't have the adequate facilities to do what they need to do."
Vice Chairman Tim Fitzgerald, too, said the committee should separate the consolidation issue from the instructional space need.
"The longer we delay it - we still know we're going to need it - it will go up year after year after year," he said, adding that the $2.1 million estimated price of last year is anticipated to be higher now.
Chairwoman Marilyn Zotos urged members of the public to contact the School Committee and share their thoughts on how the School Department should proceed with the need for arts space at York High School, as the issue will be addressed during a future meeting. Contact information for the School Committee is available through www.yorkschools.org.
In terms of the ongoing work of the Reorganization Planning Committee to meet the requirements of the consolidation law, Selectman Dwight Bardwell, who serves on the committee with Fitzgerald and York resident Steve Hamel as well as representatives from Wells and Ogunquit, recently gave the Board of Selectmen an update on the process so far.
"This is a very big and very complicated issue," Bardwell said, adding the committee members are working well together but that so many unanswered questions remain within the law it is difficult to put specifics on paper. "It really is a work in progress."
The committee has been looking at creating a system of wards throughout the Yorks, Ogunquit, Moody and Wells in order to address such issues as voting on school budgets, which will change drastically from the current practice in place.
"This committee is absolutely showing due diligence, trying to do the best job possible," Bardwell said, adding, "This was a poorly-written law ... it's clear from it that even though we complained loudly down here at this end of the state, we were largely ignored."
Selectmen Chairman Mike Estes pointed out that there are already more than 60 bills submitted for the next legislative session seeking to amend the law.
Assistant Superintendent Jim Amoroso told the School Committee that while York's Home Rule Charter currently mandates dozens of ballot items for voters to determine how their tax dollars should being spent on local schools, the state law reduces the number of ballot questions and creates a new process where a Regional School Board will present the budget to the communities.
In York, Scipione said, the legislation actually has the opposite effect of one of its intents, which was to provide more transparency in the school funding process, as York voters will see their choices drop from about 40 school funding questions to the state-mandated 11.
"Whether we consolidate or not, this method of voting is here to stay," Zotos said of the law as it currently exists. "I think we've had greater success with passing our budgets over these last many years ... because our system, as difficult and lengthy a process as it is, has allowed greater transparency for our budgets."
Amoroso added that there is concern in many communities because a ‘no' vote next May or June "means they can't send out the tax bill because they don't know what the school budget is," referring to the requirement in the state law to continue submitting the budget to the voters for validation if it fails, with the ultimate possibility of reverting to the previous year's funding, and the reality that some communities may vote against consolidating at that time.
While the law bases projected savings on reducing administrative costs, Bardwell said it is already clear there will be no way to fully eliminate either the York or Wells-Ogunquit administration and manage a new, larger district.
And while the current law specifies that schools will not be closed without a future vote of the consolidated district, officials have noted many other questions remain unanswered, ranging from whether students will be able to petition to attend a specific school to what will happen to athletic teams that currently face off as archrivals but may soon be playing for the same district.
As Bardwell put it, "One size doesn't fit all."
The next School Committee meeting is scheduled for Nov. 7 at 7 p.m. at the York Public Library and time for public comment will be allotted.
