By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
HODGDON — The final steps to put an end to the failed school consolidation effort between SAD 70 and SAD 14 are now complete.
July 1 marked the end of the consolidation effort between the two schools, but that ending does not come without an unexpected price tag for SAD 70.
Board chairman Estela Lane informed the SAD 70 school board Monday evening that in order for the AOS entity to officially be dissolved, the financial books for the group needed to be closed out.
“Apparently, the AOS ended in arrears,” Lane said. “We ended up in not a good situation because of comp time owed to the central office staff.”
An end of the year audit had to be performed, which cost about $2,500. And based on that audit, it was determined that several employees had accrued “comp time” with the AOS. That time could not be carried forward to SAD 70 and SAD 14, and therefore a monetary payout had to be made.
Lane said the total of the payout was $18,800, of which SAD 70 was responsible for $14,852.
The “comp time” was for the superintendent, special education director, business managers for the two districts and secretaries.
“We looked into it quite a bit and we have no option, we have to pay it,” Lane said.
SAD 70 and SAD 14, as well as Orient and Bancroft formed an AOS in January, 2011. At the time the AOS was formed, the state was punishing all small school districts with a monetary penalty that did not consolidate in some manner.
SAD 70 officials previously stated they saw an increased cost associated with the consolidation. It was estimated the district had spent $29,000 more by being in the AOS. Because SAD 70 is the larger of the two districts, it pays 79 percent of the costs associated with the combined central office. Much of those extra costs come from an increase in salaries for the superintendent and special education director to accommodate the greater workload, as well as mileage traveling between Hodgdon and Danforth.
From the onset, the consolidation effort put a strain on the central offices for the two districts as the superintendent, Bob McDaniel, and director of special services, Cynthia McNutt, were stretched between the two districts.
Both McDaniel and McNutt have since resigned from their posts. SAD 70 is still looking for full-time candidates to replace McDaniel and McNutt. Terry Commeau is currently the superintendent for SAD 14, while Clayton Belanger is now the interim superintendent for SAD 70. Belanger is a former superintendent from Van Buren.
In other agenda items, the board:
• Accepted the resignation of Rob Smith as varsity baseball coach.
• Approved the transfer of Jill Forest from behavior room teacher to middle school resource room instructor.
• Hired Corinne Nadeau as behavior room teacher for Mill Pond School and Deborah Young as teacher for a self-contained classroom at Hodgdon High School.
The next meeting of the SAD 70 school board is Monday, Aug. 12 at 7 p.m. in the central office building.
