School officials from Acton and the Wells-Ogunquit Community School District will meet Tuesday to discuss a possible partnership that would put them in compliance with the state's consolidation law.
The districts are considering an "alternative organizational structure," an option that was added this year to the original 2007 legislation. The law aims to cut down on administrative costs by having most of the state's 288 districts consolidate into about 80 units.
Communities that do not have voter-approved consolidation plans in place by Jan. 30 face possible financial penalties, such as a 50 percent reduction in state aid for some districts, a loss in state money for administrative costs and lower standing for school construction projects.
The Wells-Ogunquit and Acton districts are among a handful in the state that do not have consolidation plans that have been approved or prepared. Each district looked at other possible partners before turning to each other.
The meeting on Tuesday will start the conversation between the districts. It will begin at 6:30 p.m. at Acton Elementary School.
There remains strong sentiment among Wells-Ogunquit officials that the district should be allowed to stand alone under an exception to the consolidation law known as the "doughnut hole," said Matthew Chase, a school board member. That exception involves districts with at least 1,200 students that have tried to consolidate but have not found willing partners among their neighbors. Wells-Ogunquit has about 1,463 students.
The Wells-Ogunquit district has looked into partnerships with Kittery, York, Arundel and School Administrative District 71 – the district for Kennebunk and Kennebunkport – without success.
The request by the Wells-Ogunquit district to stand alone has not been formally rejected by the Maine Department of Education. Such a denial would start a 30-day window in which a district could appeal the decision.
"It's kind of frustrating for us," Chase said.
Although the communities aren't contiguous, Wells-Ogunquit has worked with Acton in the past, Chase noted. Until a few years ago, most Acton students went to Wells for high school. Those students now pay tuition to attend high school in Sanford.
Acton had looked at partnering with either Sanford or SAD 57 – the district for Alfred, Limerick, Lyman, Newfield, Shapleigh and Waterboro – but each of those large districts ended up standing alone. Acton has about 450 students.
It's not clear what Acton will do if a partnership does not work out with Wells-Ogunquit, said Judith Shain, an Acton School Board member.
"I don't know what else we would do, and I think Wells is kind of in the same position," she said.
There may be some leeway for districts before they are hit with financial penalties for non-compliance.
Education Commissioner Susan Gendron may be flexible about the Jan. 30 deadline for communities that have referendums on proposed consolidation plans if the state has not yet sent out the subsidy estimates for the coming year, said David Connerty-Marin, a department spokesman.
The dollar figures for the penalties are in flux. Because of shortfalls in the state budget, it's not clear how much state money school districts will receive. Those figures will determine a large portion of penalties assessed on the districts.
Staff Writer Ann S. Kim can be contacted at 791-6383 or at:
akim@pressherald.com
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