NEWS RELEASE YORK SCHOOL DEPARTMENT May 7, 2008 The York School Department was notified that the Maine Commissioner of Education has approved their Alternative Plan for school reorganization. This significant decision allows York to remain a municipal school entity, eliminating the requirement to merge with another school district. The reorganization law allows exceptions to the State’s minimum enrollment requirement of 2500 students and includes guidelines for the  development of Alternative Plans for school systems wishing to maintain their current configuration. The York School Department successfully argued that there were two criteria that established eligibility for York as an exception to the student enrollment requirement. York’s Alternative Plan identified the significant financial burden that the mandated reorganization would place on the community.  The School Department provided evidence that it would cost York taxpayers more money to educate York’s students in a consolidated school district than in the current one-community configuration.  In addition, York’s Alternative Plan identified that the York Schools are high performing and efficient under the current system. These two exceptions were accepted by the Maine Department of Education, thus enabling York to proceed as a single school unit. The implications of this Department of Education decision are significant. York will now remain under the governance of a single municipal school system and the York School Department will continue to operate under the control of the local York School Committee. In addition, the decision removes the financial penalty of a reduction in York’s state subsidy if the consolidation proposal had been voted down by local voters in a reorganization referendum. Officials of the York School Department were delighted with the State’s acceptance of York’s Alternative Plan. The effort expended to respond to the reorganization legislation and to develop and communicate about the Alternative Plan has been time-consuming and intense. With Alternative Plan approval for York, the continual improvement and support of the York Schools will remain the focus of the School Department’s efforts.  The York community heritage of providing strong academic programming in a caring, supportive environment will now continue into the years ahead.