By Stowell P. Watters
Staff Writer
     “One bit of good news,” said Maine School Administrative District 71 (MSAD 71) Chairman Maureen King, “is that we will be looking at a longer timeline than originally expected.”
    The SAD 71 and Arundel School Reorganization Plan was submitted  on time to the State Department of Education on Dec. 1 largely incomplete, but King said there is litigation taking place on the state level that will ease the time-demanding burden placed on Regional Planning Committees (RPCs).        
    The Regional Planning Committee 57 (RPC 57), consisting of SAD 71 and Arundel, met 21 times since May 3 and broke into a series of sub-committees (planning, financial, facilities, etc.) to work on the plan and every decision was made by complete consensus as opposed to voting. King said although the plan is incomplete she is confident that RPC 57 is not behind other planning units throughout the state.
    “We struggled to find benefits for the children while trying to foster the sense of a historical, child-first community, and I think that was a real sore spot for a lot of us,” King said. “But everyone is on the same page; all across Maine people are saying the same thing, ‘this is ridiculous,’ but it is the law.”
    Steve Kingston, RPC 57  member, was present for a Nov. 28 reorganization presentation to the Kennebunkport Board of Selectmen. There he addressed concerns about the incomplete plan.
     “I think the major reason this plan isn’t complete is because it is simply an impossible task to make all of this information appear out of thin air. It takes immense collaboration and time. We still have a lot to do, a huge hill to climb,” Kingston said, adding that with Wells and Ogunquit out of the picture the RPC had less information to process, but an immense amount nonetheless.
    Kennebunkport Town Manager Larry Mead also shed light on what he called “unrealistic deadlines.”
     “Sure this is an incomplete plan, we are fully aware of that and I think, by-and-large, everyone is expecting an extension,” Mead said.
    King said the biggest problem regarding the consolidation of Maine schools is the manner in which it disenfranchises absentee voters. The timeline proposed by the state doesn’t allow for absentee ballots to be cast, a major oversight according to Kennebunkport Town Clerk April Dufoe.
     “I have had meetings with other clerks for towns in Maine and the consensus is the same, this is completely unfair to absentee voters, there must be changes,” Dufoe said.
     “Changes in the way this law will be worded, and what this law will require are bound to occur, until then we just need to bite the bullet and remain compliant,” King said.
    The SAD 71 and Arundel Reorganization Plan addresses 13 major points required by the state. One area RPC 57 was able to solidify is the article pertaining to future decision-making entities. RPC 57 has decided to break up into representative groups based on population: Arundel, with 20.7 percent of the three towns combined population, will have three representatives; Kennebunkport, with 20.4 percent of the population, will have three representatives; Kennebunk, with 58.8 percent of the population will have six representatives.
    The future board will serve as decision makers for any and all matters pertaining to the Regional School Unit (RSU). According to the plan, “the planning committee agreed that there is a need to reiterate the part of the law that addresses the need for a two-thirds supermajority of the RSU board to vote in favor of closing any school and that the ultimate decision on the school closing rests in the hands of the community to vote.”
    Changes to schools will only be voted upon by residents of the community in which that school is located. This, said King, was important considering recent uproar during a public meeting regarding the possible closure of the Sea Road, Kennebunk Elementary and Consolidated Schools
    The planning committee left many parts of the final plan “to be done in the near future,” according to the final copy of the Reorganization Plan. Included in this list is the possible closure of the Mildred L. Day School in Arundel, which Arundel will have to decide upon in coming months. The town must also determine whether or not to keep their bus storage and maintenance facilities.
    Because town populations can change rapidly King has also called for a check on the voting apportionment every five years, opposed to the state mandated check which is to be completed every 10 years.     
    King said through this entire process she sees very little room for cost savings. Leo Martin, a citizen representative from Kennebunkport and member of the financial sub-committee, said between transportation costs, special education costs, changes in administration and increases in heating costs there will be no savings in the immediate future.
     “There just isn’t going to be any savings, I don’t see how anyone could say there will be,” Martin said..
    King likened the demand put on the RPC to asking someone to lose 20 pounds in one week.
    “It is just ridiculous,” she said.
    During a Nov. 29 RPC 57 presentation of the plan at The Middle School of the Kennebunks, Kennebunk resident Ed Geoghan voiced his concerns.
    “What about unfunded liabilities, like sick days, vacation days, what happens to them?” he asked.
    John Sharood of the RPC said the state does not allow the RPC to pay for any unfunded liabilities and that those need to be taken care of individually by the towns.
    “Improvement funds, what happens to those?” asked Kennebunk Town Manager Barry Tibbetts.
    King said that, like Arundel’s current boiler replacement plan, those too must remain in the communities for the time being and will not be affected by the RSU if the funds have already been designated.
    A full copy of the plan is available at the Kennebunkport Town Hall.