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Log inKatahdin schools to explore consolidation
Katahdin schools to explore consolidation
by Outspoken on Tue Aug 12, 2008 4:53 am
Katahdin schools to explore consolidation
By Nick Sambides Jr.
Staff Writer Bangor Daily News
WOODVILLE, Maine — The Katahdin region school systems will explore forming one school system, but the town school committee won't yet commit to it, Chairman Steve Fleming said Monday.
Committee members will join regionalization or consolidation discussions with East Millinocket, Medway and Millinocket, Fleming said, but will not rule out joining Lincoln, Lee or even a town as far south as Howland if administratively viable.
"I am going to take my time. I am not going to be hurried," Fleming said Monday. "In the end, our voters will decide and they will give us the direction we require."
Under new school reorganization laws, Katahdin towns could form an alternative organizational structure because they have 1,000 or more students and Millinocket has no municipality to its west.
Millinocket and Union 113 Superintendent Sara Alberts is due to mail the DOE a letter of intent declaring the four towns will explore joining. That’s the first step in the consolidation process. School units, the DOE and voters must agree before it can happen.
With Union 113, the towns share a superintendent, administrative services and several programs, but the three towns balked at forming a school unit with Millinocket previously.
Millinocket, its school leaders agree, needs to totally combine or face vast tax increases for its schools -— a situation, they say, other towns will soon face with rising costs.
But Woodville officials want to hear all offers, and share lingering doubts about joining Millinocket, including Millinocket schools’ high pension payments and the town’s combative politics. Their largest concerns are more general, Fleming said.
"What can we offer our students in the near future? I am more interested in answering that question," Fleming said.
Millinocket Town Council Chairman Wallace Paul and Medway Board of Selectmen Chairman David Dickey are pleased at the latest development.
http://bangornews.com/news/t/penobscot.aspx?articleid=168291&zoneid=183
By Nick Sambides Jr.
Staff Writer Bangor Daily News
WOODVILLE, Maine — The Katahdin region school systems will explore forming one school system, but the town school committee won't yet commit to it, Chairman Steve Fleming said Monday.
Committee members will join regionalization or consolidation discussions with East Millinocket, Medway and Millinocket, Fleming said, but will not rule out joining Lincoln, Lee or even a town as far south as Howland if administratively viable.
"I am going to take my time. I am not going to be hurried," Fleming said Monday. "In the end, our voters will decide and they will give us the direction we require."
Under new school reorganization laws, Katahdin towns could form an alternative organizational structure because they have 1,000 or more students and Millinocket has no municipality to its west.
Millinocket and Union 113 Superintendent Sara Alberts is due to mail the DOE a letter of intent declaring the four towns will explore joining. That’s the first step in the consolidation process. School units, the DOE and voters must agree before it can happen.
With Union 113, the towns share a superintendent, administrative services and several programs, but the three towns balked at forming a school unit with Millinocket previously.
Millinocket, its school leaders agree, needs to totally combine or face vast tax increases for its schools -— a situation, they say, other towns will soon face with rising costs.
But Woodville officials want to hear all offers, and share lingering doubts about joining Millinocket, including Millinocket schools’ high pension payments and the town’s combative politics. Their largest concerns are more general, Fleming said.
"What can we offer our students in the near future? I am more interested in answering that question," Fleming said.
Millinocket Town Council Chairman Wallace Paul and Medway Board of Selectmen Chairman David Dickey are pleased at the latest development.
http://bangornews.com/news/t/penobscot.aspx?articleid=168291&zoneid=183
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