EDDINGTON, Maine — Town leaders from Clifton and Eddington have decided unanimously to “take a stand” against the local school consolidation plan, and are urging residents to vote Tuesday against the Regional School Unit 15 referendum.
“The RSU plan as it is now written, is not in the best interests of our taxpayers,” a joint statement issued Thursday states. “Both boards reject the plan and recommend a ‘no’ vote on Jan. 27.”
Eddington Board of Selectmen voted Jan. 20 and Clifton Board of Selectmen voted Jan. 21 unanimously to oppose the proposed RSU plan. Holden town councilors voted to oppose the referendum during a meeting last week, and community and school leaders in Orrington and Brewer also have voiced opposition at recent meetings.
Brewer, Dedham, Orrington, SAD 63 and CSD 8 have worked together for 1½ years to create RSU 15 under the state’s new school consolidation law. SAD 63 serves Clifton, Eddington and Holden, while CSD 8 serves the communities of Aurora, Amherst, Great Pond and Osborn.
While consolidating the central offices of the five school units would save about $400,000 annually, those savings would be more than offset by $2.74 million in projected increases in the first three years to align salaries districtwide, the draft plan states.
Maine Department of Education leaders disagree with some of the information provided in the draft plan, and say the RSU 15 planning committee’s figures are way off the mark.
Residents in the 10 communities will vote Jan. 27 in a referendum about joining the new consolidated school district.
If residents shoot down the proposal, each of the 10 communities would be penalized financially, but would be given additional time to work on a new consolidation plan.
The penalties would be in the form of reduced state funding.
Brewer would lose about $244,000 for not joining RSU 15; Dedham would face a penalty of around $55,210; SAD 63 would face a penalty of nearly $157,000; and CSD 8 would lose $14,214.
A copy of the draft plan is available at the SAD 63 and Brewer School Department’s Web sites: sad63.net or breweredu.org. A copy of the letter Education Commission Susan Gendron issued to the RSU 15 with her concerns is posted on the department’s Web site: maine.gov/education.
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