BUCKFIELD – The Reorganizational Planning Committee studying a possible merger of school districts headquartered in Buckfield, Dixfield and Rumford met here Monday to discuss progress in developing a consolidation plan.

The new school system would include the SAD 39 towns of Buckfield, Hartford and Sumner, the SAD 43 towns of Byron, Mexico, Roxbury and Rumford, and the SAD 21 towns of Canton, Carthage and Dixfield.

Mexico Town Manager John Madigan explained the recommendation of the cost sharing subgroup for keeping each town’s share of the budget the same for the first three years. In 2013 the formula would begin to change so that by the 10th year the new school system would be based 75 percent on state valuation of the town and 25 percent on number of students.

Immediately going to the 75/25 formula would add about $1 million in taxes for Rumford. Rumford now accounts for 48 percent of the valuation and 31 percent of the pupils in the proposed school system. By keeping the shares unchanged initially, then slowly shifting to the new formula, the new system would have time to equitably distribute cost and to institute the anticipated cost savings, SAD 43 Superintendent James Hodgkin said.

“This plan is fair,” he said.

Rumford representative Len Greaney said he would “ask the Rumford leadership to look to the future. Relative valuation of Rumford and their student count are both going down relative to other communities in the proposed” school system.

The superintendents were asked about future collaboration with other schools.

SAD 39 Superintendent Rick Colpitts said he believes the new school systems will continue collaborations that are mutually beneficial. Also, some collaborations, such as that between SAD 39 and SAD 17 for vocational training, are contractual and will not be effected by the formation of a new school system.

Colleen Bullecks made a report for the subgroup studying distribution of school property. Debt for items necessary for school system operation and which the new school system will maintain, such as school buildings, will be assumed by the school system. Leases for equipment, such as computers and copiers, will be renegotiated by the school system, which will decide what equipment is needed. Debts incurred by individual districts for items such as maintenance, will remain with the towns that approved them.

There was much concern expressed over the failure of the Legislature to give needed guidance to the committee. Colpitts indicated that without this guidance the committee can not complete its work

When contacted about the future of the school regionalization process, Skip Greenlaw, chairman of the Maine Coalition to Save Schools, said his group has talked to more than half of the 186 legislators. Over half of them have said they will vote for repeal of the law if LD 1932, the state education commissioner’s fix-it bill, does not become law. According to Greenlaw, “If a veto to LD 1932 is sustained, the school consolidation ‘house of cards’ will hit the ground with a large thud.”