Resolve, To Reduce the Number of School Administrative Units and Gain Administrative Efficiencies

Sec. 1. Consolidation of school administration. Resolved: That the Committee to Consolidate School Administration, referred to in this resolve as “the committee,” is established to consolidate the administration of public education in the State and present its consolidated school administration plan to the Legislature for adoption.

1. Committee members. The committee consists of the following 11 members:

A. Two former Legislators appointed by vote of the Legislative Council, one representing the political party with the highest number of members of the Legislature and one representing the party with the second-highest number of members of the Legislature; and

B. The following 9 members appointed by the Governor:

(1) A former Commissioner of Education;

(2) Two former superintendents of public schools in the State, one with suburban administrative experience and one with rural administrative experience;

(3) Two former principals of public schools in this State, one with suburban administrative experience and one with rural administrative experience;

(4) Two former teachers in public schools in this State, one with suburban teaching experience and one with rural teaching experience;

(5) A former State Board of Education member; and

(6) A former chief executive officer of a publicly traded company headquartered in this State, who shall serve as chair of the committee.

2. Plan parameters. In developing its consolidated school administration plan, the committee shall work within the following parameters.

A. All school administrative units in existence on the effective date of this resolve and all of their governing bodies and administration must be abolished under the plan. For purposes of this paragraph, “school administrative unit” includes community school districts, career and technical education regions, municipal school units, school administrative districts, school unions, special school districts and union schools as those terms are defined in the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 20-A, section 1 and any other municipal or quasi-municipal corporation responsible for operating or constructing public schools. The plan may not displace teachers or students or close any schools existing on the effective date of this resolve.

B. The plan must consolidate administrative functions, duties and personnel. The plan must provide and the committee shall determine boundaries for new school administrative units. Under the plan:

(1)  The average school administrative unit must be in the range of 2,000 to 2,200 students; and

(2) Each school administrative unit must consist of a municipality or a new school administrative district.

C. Each school administrative unit must have a school board with up to 9 members. The plan must provide and the committee shall determine boundaries for school board seats within school administrative districts based on population so that school boards provide proportional representation.

D. The committee shall include in the plan a statewide business entity and regional business entities to further the consolidation of administrative functions. The statewide business entity would provide services and perform functions on a statewide basis, such as, but not limited to, payroll. The regional business entities, which may be established using the career and technical education regions in existence on the effective date of this resolve, would provide services and perform functions on a regional basis, such as, but not limited to, transportation maintenance, transportation scheduling and purchasing.

E. The plan developed by the committee to create school administrative units must consider transportation patterns; physical proximity and ease of physical connectivity for resource sharing; and increased academic opportunity.

3. Plan submission. The committee shall submit its plan and the necessary implementing legislation to the Legislature by December 3, 2007.

4. Staff. The Department of Education, the State Board of Education and the Legislative Council shall provide staff to the committee; and be it further

Sec. 2. Transition. Resolved: That the following provisions apply during the transition to the consolidated school administration plan.

1. Plan implementation. The period of July 1, 2007 to June 30, 2008 is the period during which the transition from the administrative structure that exists on the effective date of this resolve to full implementation of the new consolidated school administration plan authorized under section 1 must occur.

2. Election of new school board members. Elections for school board members must be held at a statewide election held in June 2008.

3. Debt. Any debt that is incurred by a school administrative unit and that exists on the date the plan takes effect remains with the municipalities of the entity that incurred the debt.

4. Advisory committees. Schools that are absorbed into new school administrative unit structures under the consolidated school administration plan may create school advisory committees to provide advice and counsel to school principals; and be it further

Sec. 3. Legislative intent. Resolved: That the Legislature intends that the consolidated school administration plan submitted to it by the committee pursuant to this resolve become law in substantively the same form as it is submitted.

summary

This resolve establishes a mechanism to consolidate the business side of providing kindergarten to grade 12 educational services while leaving in place schools, teachers and students. The resolve establishes the Committee to Consolidate School Administration to develop a plan that eliminates current administrative education units and their governing boards and administration and redraws the boundaries of those units. Under the plan a school administrative unit may consist of a municipality or a new school administrative district and will, on average, serve a range of 2,000 to 2,200 students. New school boards will be elected in June of 2008, which is the last month of the transition period into the new consolidated school administration plan.