School districts with failed plans look to state

Portland Press Herald, September 16, 2007

(excerpt) Most of the 57 school systems that had their merger plans rejected by the state last week were turned down because their plans didn't match those filed by their proposed partners.

Maine's 290 school districts were informed Thursday whether their plans for complying with the state's new school consolidation law had been accepted or rejected by the state Department of Education.

While most school districts got a passing grade and can now forge ahead with their plans, others were sent back for more work. Thirty-seven were rejected because their plans didn't match their proposed mergers while 20 were sent back because the proposed district did not have the minimum number of students.

Many of those districts are in rural parts of the state where school administrators said they are not surprised their plans were rejected. Piecing together towns to make the required 2,500 minimum enrollment is complicated, they said, and concerns about the loss of local control continue to hamper their merger talks.

They said they will now rely heavily on the state's offer to help to get communities that are geographically far apart closer to the same thinking on district mergers.