School districts eye expanded regionalization efforts
OXFORD – Board chairmen from SAD 17 and SAD 39 signed an agreement Thursday authorizing administrators to expand efforts at regionalization.
The school districts are involved in joint efforts in vocational education, adult education and bus servicing already.
“If agreements are good for kids, good for learning outcomes and good financially then it’s our responsibility ferret them out and act upon them,” said Terry Hayes, SAD 39’s chairman.
SAD 39 serves Hartford, Sumner and Buckfield.
Dale Piirainen, SAD 17’s chairman, reinforced his fiscal conservativeness and said deals would not be entered for the sake of having an agreement.
The agreement notes that their collaboration is in line with Gov. John Baldacci’s concept of regionalizing educational programs for fiscal efficiency and program enhancement.
SAD 17 took over SAD 39’s adult education for the 2003-04 school year. Adult Education Director Judy Green oversees the program and there is an on-site coordinator/secretary in Buckfield.
The transportation department is also doing maintenance on three Freightliner diesel school buses owned by SAD 39.
Superintendent Mark Eastman also presented the board with three options for dealing with the central office on Route 26 in Oxford.
The board has two weeks to study them before deciding which course of action to take at the Feb. 2 meeting.
The options are:
• Stay at the leased facility.
• Add space to the planned Paris elementary school.
• Relocate to the Mildred M. Fox elementary school in Paris.
Eastman said pluses for the current site are that it is centrally located and the work and costs of relocating would be avoided.
Working against staying there were the fact that state lease support ends in 2007 and the $80,000 rent would become a local expense. He also said there is limited space there for staff.
Relocating to the Paris school, which is not constructed yet, offers the advantages of having construction costs partially borne by the state, being in a site with children and moving in quicker than waiting for the Fox school site.
However, the site would offer less space, is not centrally located in the district and could cause confusion over who is in charge at the school.
He said having accessibility to district administrators could work against authority at the school.
Eastman seemed to favor relocating to the Fox school.
He said there is ample space and parking, maintains an educational use of the building and preserves a Market Square landmark.
The drawbacks are that using all three floors would require the installation of an elevator, major improvement to the roof and heating and ventilation are needed and most costs of renovation would be local.
In a cost analysis, the first option shows an ongoing $80,000 per year commitment and the lease has to be renegotiated in 2007 and there is no equity accumulated.
The second option could have local costs of up to $480,000 plus $150,000 for storage.
The third option could cost about $500,000.
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