Five Dixfield directors voted against the proposed merger.
DIXFIELD – Tuesday was busier than usual for SAD 21 Superintendent Thomas Ward.
That’s because he was trying to stem growing fallout from Monday night’s SAD 21 board vote that effectively rejected a proposed merger with Peru schools by not allowing paperwork to be sent to the state education commissioner for approval.
“At this point, I know there are a lot of hurt feelings out there in both communities, but now’s the time to take a deep breath, let the dust settle, and keep that door open on the merger because it is what’s right for the kids,” he said Tuesday afternoon.
That’s why he hopes that Peru School Superintendent John Turner’s meeting Wednesday with Maine Education Commissioner Susan A. Gendron in Augusta will salvage the merger.
Ward said the weighted vote of a block of five Dixfield directors – Chairwoman Barbara Chow, Sonya Fuller, Cynthia Gould, Shelly Harlow and Leslie Skibitsky – doomed the contract.
Sticking points
Sticking points were the amount of accumulated surplus money that Peru had set aside to defer upfront budget increases in Peru over a three-year period and a cost-share ratio.
Ward said he tried to make his board understand that the Peru School Committee could not legally guarantee that the surplus money would be given to SAD 21 should the merger be approved.
“They could lose a boiler between now and when the merger was to occur and use up all of the money,” Ward said.
Instead, as part of a good faith effort, Peru directors agreed to dedicate any money left in that account – pending merger approval by voters – as their share of upfront costs for a new school. That would have been 34 percent ($61,000) of SAD 21’s $180,000 building set-aside fund.
That new school has all but been guaranteed by the state to be built on the Canton-Peru side of the Androscoggin River, which splits the two towns from Dixfield and Carthage.
Cost share ratio
As for the cost-share ratio, the agreement contained what Gendron established last month as the fairest and most-equitable-to-all measure. It was based 90 percent on valuation and 10 percent on pupil population.
However, Chow, Fuller, Gould, Harlow, Skibitsky and Carthage Directors Linda Berry and William Skidgell stood firm – as they have all along – for a ratio based 100 percent on valuation.
Those voting in favor of the motion and the contract were Dixfield Directors David Berry and Victoria Brown and Canton’s four directors – Mary Dube, Cindy Bissell, John Blancato, and Ben McCollister. Carthage Director Linda Jamison abstained.
“One vote could have swung it, but it would have had to have been a Dixfield vote,” Ward said.
Weighted vote
Directors from SAD 21 towns of Canton, Carthage and Dixfield have a weighted vote based on population totals in each town.
Each of Canton’s four directors carry a weight of 280 points. Carthage’s three directors have 173 points each and Dixfield’s seven directors have 359 points each.
Monday night’s weighted tabulation was 2,141 against Dube’s motion to send the agreement to Gendron for approval while 1,838 accrued for the motion.
“Board members need to represent what their community members are telling them and (the five Dixfield women) felt like they voted that way. They still didn’t feel that a 90-10 split was fair to SAD 21,” said Ward.
He disagreed.
“An agreement is a series of compromises and I felt we had pursued every option and every avenue that was available to us and this was the best deal,” Ward said.
But, he added, those voting against the motion believed that because Peru had asked to join SAD 21, they should pay the same 100 percent valuation that the district’s three towns have paid.
“They’re all in favor of the merger, but the only way they can support it is if it’s fair – whether it’s right or wrong – and they’re doing what they’re supposed to do. They’re trying to represent what they’ve heard from their citizens,” Ward said.
“But what they feel their people want is probably not the best scientific way to do it, but that’s the reality of it,” he added.
Ward also clarified why SAD 21 directors didn’t allow Peru officials to speak on the matter.
Contentious workshop
Prior to Monday night’s regular board meeting, SAD 21 convened a 30-minute workshop to review the final merger document and determine if there were any last-minute changes.
That contentious informational meeting, which lasted 90 minutes, revealed a split board. But because no changes were made, a scheduled 30-minute meeting with the Peru School Committee to review an altered contract wasn’t necessary, Ward said.
“After the workshop, I had a good idea of where (the vote) was going, so I made sure that Peru officials were aware it was going to be close. I didn’t want them to be blindsided at a public meeting,” he added.
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