JAY — Jay school officials have offered to educate Livermore Falls Middle School students at the town’s middle school as a way to save money and combine systems.

A joint collaboration exploration committee comprising Jay and Regional School Unit 36 representatives reviewed a proposal to combine the two schools, Jay Superintendent Robert Wall said Thursday.

The objective of the proposal is to initiate a planning process to support the combination of Livermore Falls and Jay middle school staff and student populations for 2010-11.

The Jay Middle School has enough space to hold all the students, Jay School Committee Chairwoman Mary Redmond-Luce said.

“If we can combine our middle schools, we could save hundreds of thousands of dollars,” she said. “I’m trying to expedite it.”

The combined middle school would be for grades six, seven and eight, she said, and it would retain 100 percent of the staff and administration.

However, RSU 36 Chairman Ashley O’Brien said Friday that his board has not discussed the proposal and believes it would be too soon to think it could be done for the next school year.

RSU 36 collaboration committee Chairwoman Denise Rodzen said Friday that Jay’s board is a little ahead of Livermore Falls in the discussion process.

“We need to go to our board to talk with them and review it,” she said. “We need to let our board discuss it and voice their opinions. It’s not fair to continue meeting (with Jay) if our board is opposed to it. The biggest thing is they need to give Judy (Harvey, RSU 36 superintendent) direction.”

RSU 36 school directors will discuss the proposal during its meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 10, at the Cedar Street Learning Complex in Livermore Falls.

Jay, Livermore and Livermore Falls voters rejected consolidation of school systems in January. However, a recent survey taken in those towns shows that responders are willing to reconsider a vote on consolidation and most favor combining with Jay.

The goal of Jay’s proposal is to develop educational service for a shared middle school model based at the Jay Middle School. According to information in the proposal, a combined middle school would save an estimated $280,000 in operational costs.

Jay’s framework for the proposal is based on the following concepts:

• Jay Middle School has adequate and serviceable space to serve the combined student and staff population for both schools.

• The establishment of a transitional service plan will assure staff and student orientation, collaborative efforts, curriculum compatibility and an academic scope and sequence.

The proposal includes drafting plans for administrative, building, transportation and support personnel.

It also states that administration from both schools will serve as the administration of the combined school.

The combined school would include a mix of students in each classroom from Jay, Livermore and Livermore Falls.

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