Board OK with 4 general ideas of debated plan

Kennebec Journal, February 2, 2007

(excerpts) Members of the state Board of Education agreed Thursday to broad concepts regarding the consolidation of school administration, including the July 1, 2008, deadline set by Gov. John Baldacci.

The board convened a special meeting in the Cross State Office Building to talk about Baldacci's plan and others that will be considered Monday at a legislative public hearing. The board, which has its own consolidation bill sponsored by Sen. Peggy Rotundo, D-Lewiston, wanted to agree to a set of recommendations to pass on to lawmakers, Chairman James Carignan said.

"We're trying to, at the concept level, advance ideas we feel strongly about in our proposal and the governor's, and keep open the possibility of compromise," he said.

...

Rather than nail down specifics, the board members laid out four concepts that they value as the process moves forward:

• They support "major and significant" administrative consolidation. They did not specify the number of districts.
• They want to honor the timeline of July 1, 2008.
• They support making sure some of the money saved goes back to students by expansion of the laptop program through high school and in the form of scholarships to pay for post-secondary education for needy students.
• They want local advisory boards to have a voice in decisions made by the regional school board.

...

Board member Jean Gulliver said she's heard complaints from people in southern Maine about the size of the proposed districts. The district that includes Portland would have nearly 20,000 students, while the one based in Lincoln would have 3,400.

"I think people in Portland are struggling to understand how that could be run by one superintendent," she said.

While some board members debated the size of the proposed new districts, they were unanimous in their support of the July 2008 deadline for action.

"If it doesn't have this kind of steam-ahead timetable, I don't think we'll see it at all," said board member Elinor Multer.