Dear Parents and Citizens:
Many of you are concerned as to how school consolidation will affect our community and our students. The communities of Dresden, Farmington, Hallowell, Monmouth and Richmond agreed to comply with the school consolidation law and file a “Letter of Intent” (LOI) to the Department of Education’s (DOE) proposing a new school union consisting of the town above. The DOE Commissioner Susan Gendron approved the proposal in the LOI on August 31, 2007. This approval allows us to move forward to formulate a new Regional School Unit (RSU) consisting of approximately 2500 students.
Our first task was to select members from each community to serve on a Regional Planning Committee (RPC) consisting of fifteen members. Each community has a school committee member, a city or town official or their representative, and a community representative (community member). The RPC’s job is to formulate a consolidation plan, approved by each local school board, and then submit it to the Department of Education. Once the plan is approved by the DOE, it must be voted on by the citizens of each community.
Click the Read More link below to read the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ).
The RPC has sub committees and at least one community representative is on each committee. They are as follows:
Governance Subcommittee
its main function is to organize how the school district will govern itself. Topics addressed were:
1. How many seats on the new school board for each town
2. Is it a weighted vote system
3. Initial terms of office
Finance Subcommittee
has the duty of looking at how we are going to make it financially possible to consolidate services and increase efficiency
1. Debt Service and reserves
2. State and local contributions
3. Bid savings and group purchasing
4. Audit report and financial analysis
Building and Grounds Subcommittee
Their task is to assess buildings and how to legally transfer ownership of buildings and grounds to the RSU.
Transportation Subcommittee
Tasked with examining current contracts and conducting a needs assessment for each community.
Public Education/Relations
Tasked with disseminating information from the RPC to the public. Information can be obtained in many ways:
1. Public postings
2. School and town newsletters
3. RPC Website – http://www.kidsrsu.org
4. Public meetings – first one held was November 14th in Monmouth. Subsequent meetings for each town are:
1/16/08 - Dresden
2/13/08 - Farmingdale
3/12/08 - Richmond
4/9/08 - Hallowell
5. Check the calendar on the RPC website, the Times Record/Kennebec Journal or call Nancy Jodoin.
Frequently Asked Questions
Click the FAQ button in the menu above.
If you have any other questions that we have not covered, please feel free to contact me anytime.
Nancy Jodoin
737-4792
522-9869 (cell)
Submitted by: John Armentrout
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