The bare minimum.

That's what School Administrative Districts 13 and 74 will ask for under the state's school-consolidation law, following the failure of a merger proposal last month. SAD 13 serves Bingham and Moscow and SAD 74 serves Anson, Solon, New Portland and Embden.

Both boards for the two districts decided Tuesday to submit a letter of intent to the education commissioner to create a plan for a Regional School Unit, said Kenneth Smith, superintendent of SAD 74 and SAD 13.
Smith said he supports the latest proposal.

"I believe there's no sense in wasting money," Smith said, referring to state-imposed penalties for failure to consolidate. "The plan is a good thing, but it's up to the voters."

Combined, both school districts have 1,033 students. State law requires consolidated school systems to have at least 1,200 students, though exceptions can made for qualifying "isolated, rural communities" that have at least 1,000 students.

"They appear to meet the criteria for the isolated, rural provision," said David Connerty-Marin, spokesman for the Maine Department of Education.

Both districts were among the 14 towns that went to the polls last month to consolidate SAD 59 (Madison), 74 and 13, along with The Forks, Dennistown, Caratunk and Pleasant Ridge. The plan was rejected by most communities; it was only given a thumbs-up in the SAD 74 towns of Anson, Solon and Embden.

Annual state penalties would be $43,538 for SAD 13 and $146,972 for SAD 74.

SAD 74 could be spared its levy because of pending legislation that seeks to give "orphaned" communities an extra year to consolidate. SAD 13 will be penalized in the next month or so, Smith said.

Combining the two districts makes sense, Smith said, because they are already operating under an inter-local agreement, which includes sharing services. A new Regional School Unit would establish a central office, but not much else would change, Smith said.

"I don't think there are huge savings," Smith said. "The systems are similar in (staff) salaries and structures. There was a big difference between SAD 59 salaries and the other two districts."

If the education commissioner denies the creation of an "isolated, rural" RSU, the school units can appeal the decision to the State Board of Education.

Smith said representatives from both school districts are scheduled to meet next at a joint meeting March 3, at 7 p.m., at Solon Elementary School. The next step is for school officials to form a subcommittee to put a plan together.