PERU – A merger between Peru and SAD 21 would stave off combining SAD 21 and SAD 43 into one district, Peru Superintendent John Turner told residents Wednesday night.

“The merger makes us big enough to stay by ourselves for some time. It would also stave off our kids having to travel miles and miles. I wouldn’t want my child on a bus for two to three hours per day,” he said.

People who attended Wednesday night’s informational meeting on the proposed merger of Peru and SAD 21 heard from Turner and SAD 21 Superintendent Thomas Ward.

When asked if he knew what Dixfield residents think of the pending merger, Ward said he couldn’t say for sure.

“If they’re not 100 percent sold yet, they can see that our future without Peru is not good,” he said. “To maintain the programs we presently have, we’re not going to be able to do that if the merger fails.”

Ward, Turner and Peru Director Rick Colpitts detailed everything that would happen should the merger vote fail or pass.

Peru will conduct a public hearing on the proposal at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 11, at the school. The snow date is 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 12.

Voters hold a referendum from noon to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 24, in the Rockemeka Grange. Residents in SAD 21’s towns of Canton, Carthage and Dixfield are expected to vote on the referendum on April 27.

“The state is not requiring Peru to merge,” Colpitts said, “but they are asking Peru to consider its options, which are scary.”

If Peru voters opt not to merge or if the merger vote fails to pass by a SAD 21 majority, Peru’s school would remain independent.

“We would be back to square one,” he added.

That would mean renegotiating with SAD 43, or remaining independent for at least five years, with Peru taxpayers assuming all costs to keep the school operational.

The school would be forced to cut programs, teachers and administrative positions, because state funding continues to shrivel significantly as pupil population drops and the town’s valuation increases.

“The state agrees that our facilities are substandard. But Peru’s size and the state’s interest in efficiency makes new construction for independent schools not feasible,” Colpitts said.

In five years, he said it would become cheaper to pay tuition for Peru’s fewer than 200 students to attend another school system, provided one could be found that would take the pupils. That, however, means giving up local control and governance.

Should the merger be approved by Peru and SAD 21 voters, Colpitts said the new district would get a state-of-the-art elementary school facility – paid for by the state – on the Peru side of the Androscoggin River.

Other pluses include:

• Increased access to programs and resources.

• Having more than 1,000 students, thus meeting the state requirement for increased funding of 7.5 percent for five years in a row.

• Greater cost-sharing opportunities: Peru would only pick up a portion of increased costs, not the entire cost.

• For the first time, Peru will have a say in how all of its students are educated from grades K-12 instead of just K-8.

• A commitment to one K-12 school system increases opportunities for consistent programs and assessments.

[email protected]