OXFORD – Citing significant financial ramification to local taxpayers, the SAD 17 Board of Directors voted Monday night to stand alone rather than merge with another school district as proposed under the state’s school consolidation legislation.

“There’s a $1 million gap. It makes no sense,” Superintendent Mark Eastman told board members following an in-depth financial analysis for possible consolidation with SAD 39 in Buckfield and SAD 44 in Bethel.

In the unanimous vote, the directors approved the Finance Committee’s recommendation to file a letter of intent with the state Department of Education by the Aug. 31 deadline. The letter will request permission to file an alternative plan allowing the district to remain in its current configuration rather than merge with another school district.

The school district meets the criteria to file an alternative plan because the current enrollment of 3,600 students exceeds the state parameter of 2,500 for newly organized regional school units. The kindergarten-through-grade-12 programming and comprehensive high school also meet policy requirements, Eastman said.

Eastman told the directors that despite months of working numbers and reviewing at least seven different scenarios including merging with SAD 39, which now shares its superintendent with SAD 17, the results were always the same. “We can’t make this work,” he said.

The superintendent said that the analysis of financial templates with SAD 39 and data received as late as Monday from SAD 44 showed that it was not financially feasible to merge with either district because SAD 17 would experience severe financial penalties in trying to consolidate with the smaller units that operate over Essential Programs and Services funding levels. To combine both budgets, the towns in SAD 17 would essentially be subsidizing the tax bases in the three SAD 39 towns.

The effect would be like giving SAD 39 towns $150,000 to $300,000 each, said Eastman, And if SAD 17 merged with both 39 and 44, the effect would be double, he added.

Although school officials are convinced that the merger with another nearby district would be financially disastrous, there is some talk about exploring options for sharing expanded administrative services with SAD 39 if they are interested in expanding current agreements. Eastman said that such an arrangement could lead to an alternative model of governance that has potential for cost savings on both sides.

Officials say the problem of combining large efficient districts with smaller units is not specific to SAD 17.

“We’re not the only ones in this situation,” said Board of Directors Chairman Ron Kugel.

Eastman said he has spoken with the Augusta superintendent who is looking at merging with the small town of Chelsea with the same financial problems that SAD 17 came against and he has heard the same situation has occurred in Bangor.

School board members expressed hope that before all was said and done the state Legislature would be forced to look at the problems faced by larger and efficient school districts under the current legislation and find alternative methods to meet the consolidation legislation’s goals. Those goals include increasing academic achievement, reducing duplication in administration, achieving real savings that result in tax relief and using limited resources effectively in the classroom, according to a memo from Education Commissioner Susan Gendron.

School officials have completed “due diligence” as mandated by the Department of Education. The next step in the process is to submit the reorganization or alternative plan by Dec. 1. That document will be approved or returned to the district for revision by Dec. 15. If a new regional school unit is to be formed, towns must approved the action in a referendum vote by Jan. 15. The new school units are set to start July 1, 2008.