By Emma Bouthillette 

Staff Writer

Residents in Arundel, Kennebunk and Kennebunkport voted in favor of school consolidation Nov. 4, and members of the Regional School Unit planning committee are wasting no time deciding the next step.

The Regional School Unit planning committee met Nov. 6 to discuss the timeline for electing board members for the new district and to celebrate the successful vote. Co-chairmen Dana Peck and Maureen King both took a moment to congratulate the board and thank town clerks for their hard work leading up to the election.

“This was a demonstration of democracy at its best. We have a decision now and are ready to move on,” Peck said. 

In Arundel, 64 percent of the 2,266 ballots cast approved the plan for consolidation, while 62 percent of 7,057 Kennebunk residents voted yes, and 67 percent of 2,525 Kennebunkport voters agreed to consolidate the school districts. 

After speaking with Maine Department of Education Reorganization Consultant Norm Higgins, King said the towns have a maximum of 60 days from receiving state certification the Department of Education and the voters in each district approved the plan and electing new board members. 

“We need a board elected right away so we can hire a superintendent and create a new budget,” King said. “I would like to get an election done in early January because this is not a small amount of work the board has to accomplish in a short period of time.”

Kennebunkport Town Clerk April Dufoe said an election date needs to be scheduled far enough in advance to allow enough time for nomination papers to be made available and returned, warrant articles authorizing the election, 10 days for proofing and printing the ballots and at least 30 days for absentee voting. 

Working backwards to calculate the date, the planning committee tentatively agreed upon a Jan. 27, 2009 election, allowing nomination papers to be available in early December pending a decision by all three community’s selectmen to shorten the period for nomination from 40 days to 10 days. 

While the committee is confident the timetable will work, Dufoe warned “the only fly in the ointment” is that all selectmen have to agree on reducing the number of days interested candidates have to acquire enough signatures for nomination.  

By the end of November, the planning committee hopes to receive selectmen’s approval for shortening the nomination period, as well as selectmen’s signatures on the warrants for an election. The Arundel School Board and MSAD 71 Board of Directors also have to meet jointly to elect an interim secretary to handle scheduling and paperwork for the new school district until the new board is able to hire a permanent position. 

Once the new board is elected, King said the planning committee will shift planning power to the board, which will start the process of hiring a superintendent and planning a new budget. In the meantime, the current Arundel School Board and MSAD 71 Board of Directors will exist until June 31, 2009, at which time they will dissolve and the new board will take over. King said she anticipates some overlap of members from the current boards and planning committee, making the transition and planning for the new board easier. 

“People have already made their minds up whether they want to run for the new board or not,” King said. 

In conjunction with the election of a new board, the planning committee is also suggesting a non-binding referendum or a suggestion box to name the new school district rather than be recognized by a number. With only 12 communities approving consolidation plans Nov. 4, King said the Department of Education will most likely assign the new school district with a different number than 57, which Regional School Unit planning committee has been using as a reference to the new district.

King said a named district would be more specific to the schools than a randomly assigned number. 

“Right now, when I say I come from MSAD 71, no one knows where that is,” King said, “especially when MSAD 72 is Fryeburg and we are nowhere near there.”