Gendron says no to alternative
Falmouth-SAD 51 union still on track

by Peggy Roberts, The Forecaster, July 3, 2008

FALMOUTH – The town must vote on its state-approved school consolidation plan and may not give residents the option of an alternative plan on the November ballot, Maine’s commissioner of education said Tuesday.

Members of the Falmouth-School Administrative District 51 Reorganization Planning Committee, their attorney Dick Spencer and local lawmakers met Tuesday with Education Commissioner Susan Gendron to discuss filing a plan that would let Falmouth’s schools and administration remain independent of those in Cumberland and North Yarmouth.

“We talked for a long time trying to convince (Gendron) otherwise and she kept going back to the fact that we have an approved plan and she would like the voters to decide on the approved plan,” RPC and Falmouth School Board Chairwoman Beppie Cerf said.

According to RPC and SAD 51 Vice Chairman David Perkins of North Yarmouth, a ballot must only ask voters for a yes or no vote. Perkins, who is also an attorney, said Gendron and her attorney ruled out Falmouth’s request for what would be a “disjunctive” or an “either-or” ballot because it is prohibited under state law.

“You can’t have choices – that’s what they meant by disjunctive – because it won’t be clear from the ballot,” Perkins said.

Perkins said he was not surprised by the decision. The RPC spent a lot of time crafting the consolidation plan and he said he looks forward to the public discussion this fall that could lead to a better understanding for all the communities.

Last February, the RPC received kudos from Gendron for submitting what she called a model consolidation plan, the first one approved under the new statewide school consolidation law.

But some Falmouth residents have expressed reluctance to merge with SAD 51. And after several other school districts in the state received approval for alternative plans in recent months, Falmouth committee members decided to pursue that option to give the town’s voters a chance to reject consolidation without incurring financial penalties.

RPC member and Cumberland resident Susan Campbell, who also attended Tuesday’s meeting, said those on the committee who represent SAD 51 understand Falmouth’s skepticism over consolidation. For them, she said, it’s an unknown while those from Cumberland and North Yarmouth have already experienced an administrative merger.

As the RPC’s work progressed, Campbell said the attitude of the members changed from “this isn’t going away” to “this is pretty cool” as they explored possible financial and educational benefits of melding the two systems.

“The piece we need to focus on is, ‘what’s the educational promise?’” she said. “”No one school district has the corner on the market on instructional talent and administrative talent; we both have incredibly talented teachers and administrators. Think about the synergies of bringing those together.”

While Campbell believes some of the goals of consolidation can be achieved through a more informal collaboration, she said the challenge would be sustaining that relationship through the years.

With Gendron’s decision made, Cerf said Falmouth RPC members will meet with the School Board sometime in July to determine how to proceed.

“We do need to be respectful of the work that’s been done to date,” Cerf said. “We do have an approved plan and in the fall we do look forward to having discussions of the plan.”