FARMINGTON – The nuts and bolts of school district consolidation and restructuring took center stage at the SAD 9 Board of Directors meeting Tuesday evening.

The Regional Planning Committee for the proposed Western Mountain Regional School Unit (SAD 9, SAD 58, Coplin Plantation and Highland Plantation) reported a proposed school board system for the new school system.

The new board would feature 25 members: Seven from Farmington, four from Wilton, and one each from the remaining towns. Votes would be weighted and a 60 percent majority would be required to pass any motions. Several directors took issue with size of proposed board.

“I do not believe you can run, efficiently, any system with a 25-member board,” Neil Stinneford of Weld said.

“The responsibility of the board is to make informed decisions,” added Robert Pullo of Wilton. He said with so many members, a school board would find it difficult to make such decisions.

Other directors found the proposal intriguing.

Jo Josephson of Temple cited the variety of ideas that could come from a board with so many different personalities. Bob Flick of Farmington noted that all 11 board members from the larger towns, such as Farmington and Wilton, would still need support from at least two other towns to meet the 60 percent requirement.

The proposal will be reviewed on Thursday, Oct. 25.

Directors were also briefed on progress made by efficiency experts ibControls, which was contracted by SAD 9 to reduce costs by increasing energy-efficiency and improving air quality of the schools in the district.

Combined savings from electricity conservation and reduced oil consumption total $164,210.87 since 2004.

Ray Therrien of the Franklin Community College Network gave directors an update regarding the network’s progress and growth. The program, which helps facilitate real-job training and college education for Franklin County adults saw a spring semester enrollment of 94 and has developed a working relationship with companies like Cianbro construction company and Verso Paper Co.

In other business, directors approved several out-of-state field trips for SAD 9 students and were given an outline of the Western Maine Educational Collaborative’s futures plan by Superintendent Michael Cormier. The group, made up of 11 Western Maine school systems, examines ways to be efficient in the use of resources in education in a collaborative fashion. “Once this school consolidation thing shakes itself out,” Cormier said. “I think this is the next step. There are ways to collaborate practices.”

The SAD 9 Board of Directors will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 27, at Mount Blue High School.