Three county school districts to become
Mid-County School System
Staff Writer
FORT FAIRFIELD – Residents in Fort Fairfield, Blaine, Mars Hill and Bridgewater decided at the polls last Tuesday to approve a school reorganization plan that formalizes an Alternative Organizational Structure (AOS), known as the Mid-County School System.
Voters in SAD 20, SAD 42 and the Bridgewater School Department were asked: “Do you favor approving the school administrative reorganization plan prepared by the Mid-County School System reorganization planning committee to reorganize SAD 20, SAD 42, and Bridgewater School Department into an alternative organizational structure, with an effective date of July 1, 2010?”
The proposal was overwhelmingly approved by a vote of 338-38.
“I’m very happy with how the vote went,” said SAD 20 Superintendent Marc Gendron, “and I’m extremely happy with the vast majorities that were achieved in every district. I think everyone is solidly behind it which will lead to a good start. We’ll be able to do a lot of things while we protect local interest in power.
“Whenever you can get 90 percent of people to vote for anything,” he said, “it’s almost a statistical anomaly.”
As a result of the “Yes” vote, the three current school systems will combine all central office functions (district administration, business offices, state/federal reporting, etc.), special education administration, and transportation director responsibilities.
“The integration of these services will be phased in over a three-year period and the estimated cost savings for all the districts involved is $200,000,” Gendron said, noting that the new school system has received an official number, AOS 99. “The approved plan also allows the districts involved to avoid approximately $150,000 in annual penalties imposed by the Department of Education for school districts that have failed to re-organize by July 1, 2010.
“This plan also provides opportunities for staff and administrators from all schools to work more closely in developing ideas and sharing ‘best practices’ that can benefit all students,” he said. “The new AOS board will have only the authority specifically assigned to it by the AOS plan and interlocal agreements. School boards and school systems are staying intact. The AOS only affects central office staff, which means superintendent, superintendent’s office, special education and transportation administration. School boards will remain the local school boards with local control over their own budgets, their own policies and their own visions; they’re just going to be sharing – in essence – a superintendent.”
At an AOS meeting last night in Fort Fairfield, Gendron was elected the new superintendent of AOS 99. Roger Shaw, superintendent in SAD 42, will be the assistant superintendent.
It was also decided that the AOS district budget meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 15 in the music room at Central Aroostook High School.
“At that meeting, the public will decide whether or not to approve the AOS budget which is approximately $550,000,” said Shaw.
Equally pleased with the referendum vote, Shaw said it “appears that we’re on the right track.”
“We’ll move forward and transition,” he said, “and I think it will be good for kids, ultimately, and that’s what we need to be concerned with. Now that the AOS has been created, we can move ahead with it and things will fall into place. I think it’s a good solution to the cards that we were dealt.”
