Staff Writer
MARS HILL – Though the Legislature’s Joint Standing Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs is currently discussing two committee bills that seek to improve and clarify the laws governing school district reorganization, one group is continuing to collect signatures to repeal the school consolidation law.
Despite not having the 55,087 signatures needed to turn into the Secretary of State by Jan. 28, the Maine Coalition to Save Schools is continuing its petition drive.
“We’re still out there working,” said Carolee Hallett, vice chair of the Maine Coalition to Save Schools. “As of Jan. 28, we had 38,565 signatures. Since Jan. 28, we now have over 41,000, so we’re still climbing.”
Hallett said of the state’s 16 counties, the most signatures were collected in Aroostook County.
“In Aroostook County, we collected 5,963,” she said. “Of the 503 volunteers in the state who are circulating the petition, 88 are from ‘The County,’ and obviously they’ve worked very hard collecting signatures. I think it’s because we’re rural, and we have more of a school and community partnership. The schools happen to be the core of our communities, and the community people really take great pride in their schools.”
Petitions were circulated at local polling places during the November election, basketball games, and other venues.
“Any kind of gathering where there would be a significant number of people is where the petitions went,” said Hallett. “Now we only need a little over 14,000 signatures. If each county would get 1,000, we’d be done.”
Regardless of whether any amendments pass, Hallett said it will not affect the petition drive.
“We’ve come to the conclusion that it’s very prudent for us to continue to collect signatures and file this petition just as soon as we can,” she said.
For more information about signing the petition, or having a petition available to sign during town meetings, contact your local town office or Hallett at 425-2242.
