Mechanic Falls, Minot and Poland are facing school consolidation. This partnership will enable the “Regional School Unit” to identify greater efficiencies by reducing administrative staff, reorganizing and sharing education programs, staff, purchasing, maintenance, transportation and food services.

A new governance structure reduces the current number of school boards from five to one. Each town will have five elected members with weighted votes that do not give the ability for any one community to control the board.

I admit that, as a member of the RSU committee, I went in with the opinion that my taxpayers were not picking up $11 million in debt from the high school construction. In reality, the only debt to be absorbed by the new RSU is about $2 million from the renovation of the Poland Community School, high school athletic fields and the Elm Street School addition. I also wasn’t going to budge on the contract that capped our tuition. The committee originally thought Poland was paying $13,000 per student for education, and Mechanic Falls and Minot were paying the state average of $8,400. That was inaccurate. Poland pays approximately $9,000 per student, and with the proposed efficiencies could match state average as soon as the first year of the new RSU.

This plan had to be cost effective, reasonable, and fair, with the best interest of the students and taxpayers in mind. I believe the committee accomplished that. I now trust and strongly support this consolidation and hope others will also.

John Hawley, Town Manager

Town of Mechanic Falls