YORK - By the end of next month, the York School Department must have its plan complete for the Maine Department of Education to determine whether the district has met the requirements to remain independent.
The decision by both the York and Wells-Ogunquit School Departments to put on hold their consolidation talks was the primary focus for discussion at the most recent York School Committee meeting.
During the meeting, School Committee Chairwoman Marilyn Zotos shared her recent letter from Maine Department of Education Commissioner Susan Gendron regarding the School Department's decision to change its plans in terms of the consolidation law.
In her letter, Gendron noted she will consider the requests of York and Wells-Ogunquit to file alternate plans to the consolidation mandate, but noted those submissions must include a course of action for meeting the "due diligence" requirement of the consolidation law, as well as evidence to justify how each district meets the exceptions to consolidating.
Zotos said it was the Department of Education's actions that spurred the decision by the York and Wells-Ogunquit Reorganization Planning Committee and the school boards in both districts to suspend efforts to consolidate in favor of drafting alternate plans.
"They changed the rules of the game when they started to accept RSU (Regional School Unit) plans from districts smaller than 2,500 students, which we are as well," Zotos said of the Department of Education.
In terms of due diligence, she told her fellow board members that those efforts are evidenced by the months of work with Wells-Ogunquit. The difficult part, she noted, is to put the plan together by the end of March, as local school administrators have been immersed in the annual York School Department budget review process.
At the same meeting, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Henry Scipione noted that a public hearing on the consolidation law had been postponed in Augusta from its prior scheduled date of Feb. 6. He also informed the board that bills to amend the consolidation law continue to come before the Maine Legislature.
Scipione and Wells-Ogunquit Superintendent of Schools Ed McDonough had a conference call with Gendron in the week before the School Committee meeting, he said, and discussed the parameters around filing the alternative plan.
"It was a positive conversation," Scipione said, adding Gendron acknowledged the districts have the right to pursue this course of action, and resources are available from the state to assist with the process.
Wells-Ogunquit filed a separate but similar request for an individual alternative plan based on the department's decision to approve other districts of similar size and situation as York and Wells-Ogunquit.
"We're moving forward with this. As Marilyn said, it's a significant task in that we don't have the luxury of three months to put this together," Scipione said at the meeting.
The administrators are creating a rationale based in great part on the information generated through the work of the Reorganization Planning Committee, he noted, adding the work of the school, municipal and citizen representatives on that committee has created the foundation for this effort.
"York Schools operate, currently, a high-performing and highly efficient system," Scipione said, adding, "for York, the consolidated district with Wells-Ogunquit would not ... be a cost savings measure for us."
The School Committee members agreed that York can educate its students for less money by remaining independent.
The draft of the alternative plan is expected to be reviewed at the School Committee's March 19 meeting, and time for public input will be allotted.
Also at the board's February meeting, Scipione announced the members of the School Department's staff who plan to retire at the end of the current year, including Don Waters of York High School, who has 39 years of teaching in the district; Sue Randolph of York High School, with 27 years; Don Harmon of York High School, with 28 years; Rob Butler of the York High School Guidance Department, with 23 years, and Ken Doty, Sr., retiring after 25 years as facilities manager at Coastal Ridge Elementary School. Together, Scipione said, that represents almost 140 years of service to the York Schools.
In other business, the board heard updates from Scipione on the presentations to the Budget Committee of the York Schools' funding requests for fiscal 2009.
Upcoming events on the York Schools calendar include the Jeopardy Challenge on Feb. 29; the next School Committee meeting on March 5; YHS Winter Sports Awards on March 11, and the YHS Musical, set for March 13 through 15. For more York Schools events, visit http://www.yorkschools.org/.
