[Schoolconsolidation] New Stuff from Augusta

[Michael Richards]

Courtesy of:  http://www.maine.gov/education/supportingschools/


June 11, 2007

The School Administrative Reorganization proposal was enacted June 7, 2007,
with the Governor's signature on the two-year state budget.  Now begins the
hard work of implementing the reorganization law.  It is, without doubt, an
aggressive timetable to which we must all adhere; it is new territory and
there will be unforeseen and significant challenges along the way.

Entire law and a summary of the School Administrative Reorganization law.
 <http://www.maine.gov/education/supportingschools/draftleg.html>

Here is what is happening in the immediate future:

   - The Department of Education is in the process of scheduling regional
   meetings, as required in the law, at which presenters will provide
   information about the reorganization law and guidance about moving forward
   with regional planning, as well as answer questions.  These meetings are
   open to members of the public, including superintendents, school board
   members, teachers, parents, business people, and all others.

   The meetings will take place between June 18 and July 15 – one in each
   Career and Technical Education region.  Each presentation will be made by
   Commissioner Susan Gendron; Jim Rier, the Department's Director of Finance
   and Operations; or Norm Higgins, a former superintendent who has been
   engaged by the Department to lead the reorganization planning with Ray
   Poulin, also a former superintendent.

 Schedule of upcoming regional meetings and materials that will be
presented.
 <http://www.maine.gov/education/supportingschools/meetings.html>


Sign up for e-news
updates<http://visitor.constantcontact.com/email.jsp?m=1101604576016>,
including updates on the schedule of meetings.


   - The other major effort at this time is preparing to hire
   facilitators.  DOE is in the preliminary stages of that process, and intends
   to move quickly.  These facilitators will be made available to
   reorganization planning committees upon request to provide assistance in the
   reorganization process.   In the meantime, there are many common questions
   that have been raised that we can answer on the Q&A
page<http://www.maine.gov/education/supportingschools/qa.shtml>of this
website.

Timeline, based on the reorganization law, of upcoming dates and deadlines
in the process.<http://www.maine.gov/education/supportingschools/timeline.html>

Communities are encouraged to continue (or start, if they haven't already)
conversations with nearby school administrative units about the possibility
of regionalizing, and to have conversations within their own communities
about how best to achieve savings as required in the legislation without
adversely affecting students in the classroom.

You may be wondering if there will be new maps created.  We are not planning
to create new maps at this time.  The maps, which were created as part of
the "suggested model" several weeks ago, at the request of legislative
leadership, were based on statutory criteria, which have not changed
significantly.  Remember that these maps are simply tools to provide a
starting point for discussions among local school units; they are not
proposed partnerships.

Suggested model and
maps.<http://www.maine.gov/education/supportingschools/model.html>

We look forward to working together as we implement this new legislation.



[image: Susan Gendron's Signature]

Susan A. Gendron
Commissioner of Education
------------------------------

*Goals of school administrative reorganization*

   - Increase academic achievement
   - Reduce duplicative system administration
   - Achieve real savings that result in real tax relief
   - Use limited resources effectively – mostly in the classroom.

Also:

   - Improve competitiveness of Maine's classroom achievement with other
   states.
   - Improve return on investment – that is, excellence in education.
   - Require transparency in budgeting so that local taxpayers see how
   the proposed school budget compares to state Essential Programs and Services
   recommendations for the school administrative unit.
   - Ensure that state-imposed savings are not replaced by local
   increases in taxes to make up the difference.

*Background – the case for school administrative reorganization*

Academic excellence


   - Maine has some of the toughest educational standards in the country,
      but our kids are not meeting them.  For five years Maine eighth
graders have
      had the same scores in mathematics while the rest of the country
has moved
      forward.  We were first in the nation, now we're 32nd.
      - Too many layers of administration and governance stand in the
      way of *coherence*.  By reducing those layers we can ensure that
      a common understanding of Maine's *Learning Results* standards
      and best teaching methods and practices make it to every classroom in the
      state.
      - The state is investing significantly more each year in
      education for four years, but once the state's share reaches 55
percent in
      2008-09, increases will be subject to state spending growth
limits, meaning
      yearly increases in the 2 to 3 percent range.  The financial squeeze is
      inescapable, and the level of spending is not sustainable and
will cut into
      classroom resources unless we can find savings elsewhere.
      - Administrators and staff in smaller districts serve in many
      capacities and are sometimes, of necessity, forced to become
generalists.
      By increasing the size of administrative school units, staff will have
      access to greater resources, training, and expertise.

 Statistics


   - Since 1978, the number of students attending Maine public schools
      has decreased 16 percent; the number of administrators, not including
      superintendents, has grown 54 percent.
      - Maine spends $2,000 more per student than the national average
      – $10,736 compared to $8,554.
      - Maine pays its teachers $7,000 less than the national average.
      - School districts in Maine average 734 pupils, compared to
      3,200 nationally.




Here is the official statement concerning the Consolidation Meetings with
the DoE:

The Department of Education is in the process of scheduling regional
meetings, as required in the law, at which presenters will provide
information about the reorganization law and guidance about moving forward
with regional planning, as well as answer questions.  These meetings are
open to members of the public, including superintendents, school board
members, teachers, parents, business people, and all others.

The dates in York County
June 20th Biddeford Middle School
July 9th Sanford Memorial Gymnasium



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Mildred L. Day School
Arundel, Maine
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