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Log inConsolidation plan approved
Consolidation plan approved
by Outspoken on Wed Aug 13, 2008 4:20 am
Consolidation plan approved
BY MATTHEW STONE
Staff Writer Kennebec Journal
LITCHFIELD -- More than two-thirds of voters in three towns Tuesday endorsed a proposal to redesign their schools' administrative structure to comply with the state's school district consolidation mandate.
Tuesday's vote was the latest test for the state Department of Education as it pushes school districts around the state to consolidate with new partners. The vote in Litchfield, Sabattus and Wales was the third reorganization vote -- and second successful one -- since legislators finished work on the consolidation law in April.
While Sabattus and Wales voters welcomed the proposal, Litchfield voters turned it down.
According to unofficial results, 163 supported the proposal in Sabattus and Wales while 39 opposed it.
In Litchfield, 53 supported the plan and 66 rejected it.
A majority of the three towns' voters was needed for the initiative to pass. Approximately 4.3 percent of registered voters showed up at the polls, according to unofficial tallies.
The Department of Education has set a Jan. 30 deadline for merging districts to hold referendums. The new district arrangements take effect July 1, 2009.
"Those people who paid attention realized that we needed to do something in order to help try and reduce or control cost increases," said Robert English, who led the committee that planned the district's reorganization. "This plan allowed for Litchfield, Sabattus and Wales, who are already familiar with working together, to consolidate and not have any new players."
School Union 44 towns' plan to meet the state mandate stood out among the consolidation plans of school districts across the state: It was one of only three plans that proposed keeping the same set of municipal partners together while reshaping the district administration.
Litchfield, Sabattus and Wales, which form the 1,600-student School Union 44, will remain together under the plan, welcoming no other towns' schools into the mix.
In the new district, the Union's five school boards will merge into one, nine-member regional board, whose first task will be hiring a superintendent.
The plan awards Sabattus, the largest of the three towns, four board seats. Litchfield would elect three representatives and Wales would have two board members.
English, of Wales, said he hopes the new district can hold school board elections in November.
In addition to hiring a superintendent, the new board will need to plan the district's budget for the following school year and, perhaps, renegotiate several staff contracts that expire in 2009.
http://kennebecjournal.mainetoday.com/news/local/5308226.html
BY MATTHEW STONE
Staff Writer Kennebec Journal
LITCHFIELD -- More than two-thirds of voters in three towns Tuesday endorsed a proposal to redesign their schools' administrative structure to comply with the state's school district consolidation mandate.
Tuesday's vote was the latest test for the state Department of Education as it pushes school districts around the state to consolidate with new partners. The vote in Litchfield, Sabattus and Wales was the third reorganization vote -- and second successful one -- since legislators finished work on the consolidation law in April.
While Sabattus and Wales voters welcomed the proposal, Litchfield voters turned it down.
According to unofficial results, 163 supported the proposal in Sabattus and Wales while 39 opposed it.
In Litchfield, 53 supported the plan and 66 rejected it.
A majority of the three towns' voters was needed for the initiative to pass. Approximately 4.3 percent of registered voters showed up at the polls, according to unofficial tallies.
The Department of Education has set a Jan. 30 deadline for merging districts to hold referendums. The new district arrangements take effect July 1, 2009.
"Those people who paid attention realized that we needed to do something in order to help try and reduce or control cost increases," said Robert English, who led the committee that planned the district's reorganization. "This plan allowed for Litchfield, Sabattus and Wales, who are already familiar with working together, to consolidate and not have any new players."
School Union 44 towns' plan to meet the state mandate stood out among the consolidation plans of school districts across the state: It was one of only three plans that proposed keeping the same set of municipal partners together while reshaping the district administration.
Litchfield, Sabattus and Wales, which form the 1,600-student School Union 44, will remain together under the plan, welcoming no other towns' schools into the mix.
In the new district, the Union's five school boards will merge into one, nine-member regional board, whose first task will be hiring a superintendent.
The plan awards Sabattus, the largest of the three towns, four board seats. Litchfield would elect three representatives and Wales would have two board members.
English, of Wales, said he hopes the new district can hold school board elections in November.
In addition to hiring a superintendent, the new board will need to plan the district's budget for the following school year and, perhaps, renegotiate several staff contracts that expire in 2009.
http://kennebecjournal.mainetoday.com/news/local/5308226.html
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Plato (427-347 BC)
Plato (427-347 BC)
