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Tuell: Mainers Axe Majority of School Merger Plans in January 27 VoteMainers Axe Majority of School Merger Plans in January 27 Vote By Will Tuell, Mainers rejected 14 of 18 school reorganization plans in a January 27 referendum, according to a tally by the nonprofit Maine School Management Association (MSMA), which represents school boards and superintendents statewide. The Maine Department of Education (DOE), however, counts three additional plans as passed since they exceed 1,200 students, despite the fact that in some cases a majority of municipalities involved rejected overtures to consolidate into larger units. Below is a summary of the recent votes: Allagash/SAD 27 (Rejected): Voters in SAD 27 approved this Alternative Organizational Structure (AOS) by a lopsided 280-13 margin, but the plan failed because Allagash voters rejected it 43-26. Without Allagash, the plan would not have met the 1,200 student minimum requirement. Both DOE and MSMA are in agreement that this plan failed. Caribou/Caswell/Fort Fairfield/New Sweden/Stockholm/Westmanland/ Woodland/Limestone (Contested): Caribou, Stockholm and Limestone approved the merger 495-143 and formed an RSU with 1,841 students according to DOE. However, the other five towns rejected the merger and went out on their own. DOE counts this as a success because the basic terms of the plan were met. MSMA considers this a rejection because five of the eight towns involved failed to consolidate. Either way, the plan failed to get a majority of voters across all eight towns, failing 808-702 overall. Orient, Hersey, Moro, Bancroft, CSD 9, SAD 14/25/70 (Rejected): SAD 25, Moro and Bancroft approved the plan, but could not meet the minimum 1,200 student requirement to gain passage. This marks the second time SAD 14 voters have rejected a consolidation plan after turning down an RSU in November. They spurned the AOS this time around. The plan was rejected by a 657-330 margin across all the towns involved. Both DOE and MSMA are in agreement that this plan failed. Jay/SAD 36 (Livermore, Livermore Falls) (Rejected): All three towns involved rejected this plan to form an RSU, albeit by a relatively narrow margin in Jay (228-201). SAD 36 torpedoed the plan by a 273-158 margin. Both DOE and MSMA are in agreement that this plan failed. Deer Isle-Stonington CSD/Brooklin/Brooksville/ Bucksport/Orland/SAD 18 (Approved): This proposed four-town RSU sailed to an easy victory in one of the few successes reorganization supporters can point to from the last round of balloting. Each school unit involved approved the plan, and did so handily. The final tally was 480-135 in favor of the RSU. Both DOE and MSMA agree that this plan passed. Maranacook CSD/Fayette/Winthrop (Contested): Maranacook CSD approved this plan, while Fayette and Winthrop rejected it. DOE considers this a success because Maranacook has the requisite 1,200 students to become an RSU on its own. MSMA sees this as a failed attempt at consolidation because Fayette and Winthrop voted the plan down and will remain on their own, in essence keeping the status quo. Maranacook approved the plan by a staggering 534-124 margin, while Fayette rebuffed consolidation by a 144-94 vote and Winthrop opted out by a 397-317 tally. Five Town (Appleton/Camden/Hope/ Boothbay Harbor CSD/Great Salt Bay CSD/Bristol/Edgecomb/ Boothbay Harbor CSD voted it down 470-75, while Edgecomb (104-15) and Southport (147-6) rejected it by wide margins. On the other hand, Great Salt Bay CSD voted 203-35 in favor; Nobleboro approved by an 88-19 margin; and Jefferson gave the thumbs up by a 175-38 gap. Bristol voters were divided, though they approved the plan by a razor thin 70-65 mark. The aggregate vote was 907 against to 686 in favor. SAD 44/Gilead/Upton/Rangeley/ Brewer/Dedham/Orrington/ Alton/Bradley/Greenbush/ Millinocket/East Millinocket/Medway (Rejected): Millinocket approved plans to form an AOS with the other two municipalities by an overwhelming 381-51 margin. However the other two towns each rejected the plan convincingly. East Millinocket voted it down 157-63 while Medway rejected it 193-18. Because the plan does not meet the 1,200 student minimum for approval, it cannot go forward. Both DOE and MSMA are in agreement that this plan failed. Orono/Glenburn/Veazie (Approved): This plan was one of two plans statewide that garnered universal approval by all involved. In Orono, residents voted 327-101 in favor. The result was equally as decisive in Veazie, where voters approved the RSU by a count of 105-44. All together, the three towns approved the proposed merger by a two-to-one margin. Both DOE and MSMA are in agreement that the plan won approval at the ballot box. SAD 30/31/67/Carroll Plt./Drew Plt./Reed Plt./Macwahoc/Lakeville/ A further look at the plan reveals that Lincoln was able to pass the RSU over the objections of its two SAD 67 partners. Lincoln voters gave their approval by a 220-109 gap, while Chester gave it the thumbs down by a 37-16 and Mattawamkeag did so by an 73-9 vote. Because SADs and CSDs vote en bloc, Lincoln was able to carry the day. SAD 12/41/68/Greenville/Shirley/ SAD 4/46/Harmony/Willimantic (Rejected): This plan to form a 12-town RSU failed to muster a positive vote in any of the areas involved. Would-be partners voted by a 1,086-130 margin with one town, Chester, voting 55-0 against the consolidation initiative. Sangerville also rejected the proposal by a 145-9 gap, while Guilford logged a 152-5 total. Both DOE and MSMA are in agreement that this plan failed. SAD 13/59/74/Dennistown/The Forks/Pleasant Ridge (Rejected): While SAD 74 approved this plan to form an RSU with 10 other Somerset County municipalities, SADs 13 and 59 downed it. This is SAD 59's second try at consolidation since the law was mandated. They also rejected a plan to combine with SAD 53 last June. Both the DOE and MSMA agree that this plan has failed. Of the 20,974 ballots cast January 27, 12,856 (61.3 percent) chose penalties over consolidation, and 8,118 (38.7 percent) would have consolidated their district with neighbors. DOE, Governor Cast Results as Positive; Porter Begs to Differ DOE contends that 24 plans have been approved, 22 have been rejected, and one proposed AOS is still pending later this year. MSMA contends that 21 plans have been approved and that 25 have been rejected with one still pending—at best right around 50 percent of those areas required to consolidate school administrations. In a press release following the vote, Baldacci called the latest results “great progress” despite the fact that there could still be anywhere from 200-230 school districts statewide. “There are fewer school districts today than there were yesterday. In fact, actions so far by communities have consolidated 128 school districts into 62. But there’s more work to be done. Many of our smallest school systems did not get there. Change is always difficult, but we have seen most districts work well together to create more efficient administrative functions that will not only save taxpayers money, but will also preserve challenged resources for educational programming.” Union 102/East Machias superintendent Scott Porter, who also serves as president of the Maine Small Schools Coalition, suggested that the DOE and the governor were putting the best face they could on the recent referendum votes. In a phone interview January 30, Porter said that the results of the latest round of balloting are clear evidence that the school reorganization law is failing to achieve true administrative consolidation. “We're aware of only four of those plans that were successful [on Jan 27]. When you take a look at it, there's been a grand total of 21 plans approved by the voters,” said Porter. “When you do the numbers on that, those are the only places that actually have consolidated from smaller districts to larger districts—21 places.” Subsidy Redistribution Draws Fire Porter said that those 21 places account for about 23 percent of the state's student population, and that they will be receiving more than $8 million in penalties from areas that have opted not to consolidate. Some units will receive as much as $400,000 in additional funding based on no other criteria than the results of a vote. “The interesting thing is,” said Porter, “when you take a look at the 21 plans and the towns they represent with the student population they contain, they only contain 23 percent of the entire student population in the state of Maine. That tells me clearly that this has been a disaster. It hasn't worked. Most of the state hasn't bought into it. And there needs to be a repeal of this law, and something put in place that would honor the RSUs and AOSs that have been voted in...I also calculated the penalties for those that voted down their plans. The total penalties for doing that is approximately $8 million. And that's going to be distributed just among those 21 districts that were approved by the voters. Districts like Portland and Augusta that got these so-called alternative plans—they're not going to get any money. That means these 21 districts that only contain 23 percent of the [state's] student population will receive the $8 million. Even the smallest districts of 1,200 will receive over $200,000 in additional subsidy [per year]. Some of the larger ones could receive as much as $400,000. “This is just a situation that in my opinion can not happen,” continued Porter. “The legislators can't let that happen: That the poorest places in the state of Maine will have $8 million subtracted from them and given to 21 districts that will benefit dramatically financially at the cost of those that did not believe consolidation would save them money at the local level.” Unofficial vote tallies can be obtained from: http://mdischools.net/20090127_referenda.html A list of DOE approved/rejected plans, as well as student totals, can be found at: http://www.maine.gov/ Data for this article was also drawn from a January 28 MSMA Bulletin on the school reorganization issue.
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