AOS public hearings set for Danforth, Hodgdon

By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
    The public will have opportunities to ask questions of a proposed school consolidation plan between SADs 70 and 14.
    The first of three hearings was held Tuesday evening at the Orient Town Office.
    On Wednesday, Jan. 12, at 6 p.m., a public hearing will be held at the Danforth School cafeteria. This meeting will also include residents of Bancroft.
    On Tuesday, Jan. 18 at 6:30 p.m. residents of SAD 70 will have their chance with a hearing slated for Mill Pond School. The meeting was originally scheduled for Jan. 20, but switched to Jan. 18 at the elementary school.
    The public hearings are the next step in the consolidation of central offices between the two school districts.
    Following the hearings, a public referendum vote must be held. That vote is slated for Monday, Jan. 31 in each of the districts. Should voters in either of the two main groups — SAD 14 or SAD 70 — turn down the proposal, the AOS plan would be scrapped.
    Before the hearings could be held, the AOS plan had to gain the endorsement of Commissioner of Education Angela Flaherty. That endorsement came in the form of a Dec. 7 letter sent to the respective districts.
    Under the proposed AOS plan, SADs 70 and 14 would keep their separate school boards and have control over all aspects of their schools, including curriculums. An AOS board, comprised of members from each area, would be created for the sole purpose of governing the combined central offices.
    SAD 70 Superintendent Bob McDaniel said that despite consolidating central offices, both districts would still maintain their current superintendents, until their existing contracts expire. Once that happens, one superintendent would be hired to oversee both districts.
    By not consolidating, SAD 14 was penalized $23,000 in its current fiscal budget. SAD 14 Superintendent Richard Cote said he anticipated that penalty to increase to more than $30,000 by the next school budget. SAD 70 was penalized $93,000 in last year’s budget for not conforming to the state’s consolidation wishes. That penalty is expected to rise to nearly $100,000 in the next budget, but could be even higher.