The Governor's Budget proposal to consolidate Maine's School Districts

• York Alternative Plan Approved by Commissioner of Education - READ the News release

• York School Department's Alternative Plan submitted to the Maine DOE.

• Click HERE for Dr. Scipione's most recent slideshow about Submitting an Alternative Consolidation Plan - February 2008

• Click HERE for Dr. Scipione's latest community letter regarding consolidation - January 2008

• Click HERE to view a PowerPoint slideshow given by Dr. Scipione in November 2007

• Click HERE to view Superintendent Scipione's Video Podcast on the Governor's proposal (Transcript)

• Click HERE to read York Schools Curriculum Coordinator, Maryann Minard's, testimony to the Education Committee on Feb. 5, 2007

• Click HERE to read York Schools Superintendent, Henry Scipione's, testimony to the Education Committee on Feb. 5, 2007

• Click HERE to view a PowerPoint slideshow detailing the Appropriations Committee Recommendation by Dr. Scipione

• Click HERE to read the Talking Points from the York School Committee and York Board of Selectmen

• Click HERE to read a SCHOOL CONSOLIDATION PLAN SUMMARY by the Maine School Management Association (5/17/07)

The following three documents were distributed by the Education Committee to the Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee at the March 8, 2007 work session.

• Regionalization Plan to replace Part MM in the Governor’s Budget, LD 499. This outlines the recommendations of the Education Committee relative to Regionalization and Consolidation that they have put forward as the “Majority Report.”

• An Incentive Plan for Consolidation put forward by Senator Peter Mills as his minority report.

• Projected Savings in Expenditures which gives the DOE projections on how to achieve savings through the Governor’s consolidation plan.

• Reports A & B from the Bipartisan Work Group aka the Leadership Proposal); Senator Mitchell presented REPORT A and Rep. Saviello presented REPORT B.

• Education Service Districts * - Achieving school administrative cost savings while protecting local control and parental involvement * (report published by the Maine Heritage Policy Center, 01/25/07) New!

• Maine Municipal Association Legislative Bulletin Jan. 12, 2007 * (Of particular interest in this summary of the governor's plan are sections on pages 2 and 3, "Taking of School Property" and "Taking of Financial Assets".)

• Testimony from Larry Littlefield, immediate past president of the Maine School School Superintendents Association, before joint standing committees of Education and Cultural Affairs and Appropriations and Financial Affairs* (PDF - 02/05/07)

• Testimony from Kim Bedard, president of the Maine School Boards Association, before joint standing committees of Education and Cultural Affairs and Appropriations and Financial Affairs* (PDF - 02/05/07)

• Baldacci school plan has competitionMaine Sunday Telegram, Jan. 14, 2007)

• Baldacci faces tough sell on school district reform (Portland Press Herald, Sunday, January 28, 2007)

• Report Shows Support for School District Consolidation (Maine Government News, Wednesday, February 1, 2007)

• Want a Great Debate? Talk about the Schools (Portland Press Herald, February 5, 2007)

• Legislators hear merger views (Portland Press Herald, February 6, 2007)

• Consolidation may be delayed a year (Portland Press Herald, March 6, 2007)

• Rural Caucus weighs in (Bangor Daily News, April 26, 2007)

• York, Kittery Talk Teamwork (Seacoast Online, May 1, 2007)

• Kittery, York Schools May Join (Portsmouth Herald, May 22, 2007)

• Maine's school plan clears hurdle (Seacoast Online, Friday, June 1, 2007)

• Budget, schools plan win approval - Portland Press Herald, June 7, 2007)

• Suggested Model for Reorganizing School Units (May 21, 2007) - Criteria Used in Developing the Suggested Model For Reorganizing School Units

• MDIschools.net: Proposed School Consolidation Plans for Maine - A good source of information on the DISTRICT REGIONALIZATION plans...the proposals, related news articles, association positions, etc.

• Governor's proposed budget recommendations (The most pertinent parts that deal with the Governor’s proposed consolidation plan can be found under “Unified General Fund and Other Funds – Part A” on pages 178-205 and “Language (Including a Summary)” on pages 53-137.)

• Public testimony can be sent to the Education Committee and Appropriations Committees via the Education Committee’s analyst Phillip McCarthy

Office of Policy & Legal Analysis, Maine State Legislature

- Dawn Hill: RepDawn.Hill@legislature.maine.gov; or 363-7594 or 207-337-3689.

- Peter Bowman: PeterBowman@comcast.net or 439-6481 or 363-4714.