An estimated 80 percent of the districts had at least one of their merger plans approved. But a complete list of accepted merger plans, and an accurate count of how many districts were rejected or accepted, was not ready on Thursday, said David Connerty- Marin, the department's spokesman.
The notification letters were the latest step taken under a school consolidation law adopted by the Legislature in June with a goal of cutting administration costs.
Education Commissioner Susan Gendron said some districts have more work to do to comply with the new law, which requires most school districts to merge into school units with minimum enrollments of 2,500.
Gendron and Gov. John Baldacci, who pushed for the new law, said most communities are working to make mergers happen.
"There are tangible signs of progress," Baldacci said during a news conference at Westbrook High School.
Gendron said Westbrook was among the school districts that submitted merger plans even though they have more than 2,500 students and are exempt from that portion of the consolidation law.
Westbrook is looking to merge with Windham and Raymond, she said.
School districts were required to file their intentions to merge on Aug. 31. Since then, state education officials have been analyzing the proposals.
Gendron said on Thursday that about a dozen "regions" failed to come up with acceptable merger plans.
Connerty-Marin said some districts filed multiple merger scenarios, some of which were accepted and some of which were rejected.
Officials are still processing the data to come up with a complete list and accurate number.
Gendron said some districts reported having problems finding any savings with various merger scenarios. But she said the districts' analyses are probably flawed.
She said state officials will give those districts help in coming weeks to find merger plans that produce the administrative savings the law was designed to create.
Some superintendents whose plans were not accepted by the state expressed frustration at the process.
Frank Gorham, superintendent of School Administrative District 61, which covers Bridgton, Casco, Naples and Sebago, said his district met with other districts, including SAD 72, which covers Brownfield, Denmark, Fryeburg, Lovell, Stoneham, Stow and Sweden, and SAD 55, which covers Baldwin, Cornish, Hiram, Parsonsfield and Porter.
In the end, he said, they could not find the savings. SAD 61 is among the districts that have to do another financial analysis.
"We will now rely heavily on the (state) department to make the determination of where the cost savings will be. It's their responsibility," said Gorham.
Kittery school officials were also told to go back to work. They had filed plans to merge with York and Wells schools. But since neither of those communities listed Kittery as a possible partner, Kittery's plan was rejected, said Superintendent Larry Littlefield.
He said he is still hopeful that Kittery could merge with York and Wells.
Other school departments, such as Augusta's, had plans rejected because they didn't meet minimum enrollment.
Augusta officials argued that their adult education students should be counted, a position rejected by Gendron.
Gendron said it now appears that the law will create about 75 new school districts, about five fewer than originally estimated.
The sweeping legislation is aimed at saving about $36.5 million a year in state education spending.
School districts must file their final merger plans by Dec. 1, detailing ways to cut spending by 5 percent for special education, transportation and maintenance, and by 50 percent for school administration.
Cities and towns must vote whether to approve the mergers by Jan. 15.
Staff Writer Beth Quimby can be contacted at 791-6363 or at:
bquimby@pressherald.com
Reader comments
Click here to view or add comments on this story
Were you interviewed for this story? If so, please fill out our accuracy form