JAY — With a vote of 4-1, Jay School Committee members reconsidered and authorized sending a plan for consolidation of Jay Schools and RSU 36 to the commissioner of the Department of Education during a special meeting held Monday.

Chair Mary Redmond-Luce’s motion to submit the plan included an addition that encourages the RSU Planning Committee to meet "prior to their final submission to the Department of Education to discuss the concerns from each of the respective boards, especially the composition of the new school unit board of directors.”

Three members agreed with the chairman but committee member Michael Schaedler opposed the motion.

The special, 45-minute meeting was held after Thursday's motion to submit the plan failed for lack of a second, following disagreement about the makeup of the a new school board.

Schaedler said Thursday that he believes the plan would have a better chance of being approved by voters in January if Jay had one more voting director on the proposed board.

Without a Jay vote to submit the plan to Augusta, the plan could not move forward and voters in Jay, Livermore and Livermore Falls wouldn't have a chance to vote on it in January, Jay Superintendent Robert Wall said previously.

Redmond-Luce shared an e-mail she received Monday from Angela Faherty, commissioner of education, advising that the “reorganization law does not give school boards/committees the option to refuse to submit the plan.”

Faherty also stated that “by not submitting the plan, the school committee will be depriving the citizens of Jay the opportunity to vote on the plan. The Legislature was clear in its desire that the public have an opportunity to vote. Submitting a plan does not indicate ‘approval’ or ‘endorsement.'”

A school board can advocate for or against the plan but not take away the voter’s right, she wrote.

A subcommittee of the RSU Planning Committee dealing with governance of the new school unit proposed a 13-member board with each representing about the same number of people. Based on the each town’s population, Jay would have six members on a new board, Livermore would have three and Livermore Falls four. It comes close to meeting one person, one vote, Wall said.

During the Monday meeting, Wall explained the four methods considered by the subcommittee composed of both Jay and RSU 36 superintendents, town managers for Jay and Livermore Falls and the administrator for Livermore and other members of the planning committee.

The subcommittee proposed the one person, one vote route as opposed to methods that included designating sub-districts similar to those used in large cities, appointing members at large where the school board members receiving the most votes were elected regardless of town, or a “weighted vote” system where each member carries different voting power and the amount has to be figured for each and every vote taken.

Instead of a 13-member board, a second look reveal that a potential 19-member board representing the estimated 10,072 population of the three towns could work and would result in nine members for Jay, four members for Livermore and six for Livermore Falls, Wall explained.

The subcommittee proposed the one person, one vote system “in good faith” that it was the best option, Wall explained. They were given the right to do what they need to do to come up with a plan to submit to the state, he added.

RSU 36 school board members will discuss submitting the plan when they meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the central office.

abryant@sunjournal.com