JAY – The School Committee voted unanimously Tuesday to ask voters to approve a plan to make the Jay School Department and SAD 36 in Livermore Falls one school system as of July 1, 2009.

A public hearing on the question was scheduled for Dec. 11, with the referendum to be held Jan. 27. Absentee ballots will be available on Dec. 24.

Maine Department of Education Commissioner Susan Gendron has sent the proposed consolidation plan for Jay, Livermore and Livermore Falls back to school officials for an estimate of cost savings and how they would be achieved.

There would be no savings, Jay School Committee Chairwoman Mary Redmond-Luce said Tuesday.

Superintendent Robert Wall said there would be no cost savings initially, but there may be some down the road.

“I think the reality is, especially with reductions of this year’s subsidy, never mind next year’s, there is no cost savings,” Redmond-Luce said.

Jay may have to cut $197,000 from this year’s budget if the Legislature approves the governor’s requested curtailment of $27 million from school systems around the state. If he doesn’t get the curtailment, Wall said, the governor does have the authority to push the last month’s subsidy of this fiscal year into the next year that begins on July 1, 2009. If that happens, Jay stands to lose about $109,000, Wall said, compared to nearly $200,000.

The consolidation plan was put together in good faith, Wall said, and would be presented to voters in that manner. Whichever way the voters decide to go, Wall said, school officials would do their best to follow that directive.

Redmond-Luce said she would contact SAD 36 School Board Chairman Ashley O’Brien to set up a time for the school reorganization planning committee to meet prior to Dec. 4 to review requested changes so the plan could be re-submitted.