In 2007, when the Legislature approved then-Gov. John Baldacci’s plan to consolidate school districts, there were 290 distinct districts across Maine.
The goal was to reduce that number to 80, but the target was never fully achieved.
It took years for the number of districts to shrink to 215, but over the past 14 years, that figure has climbed back to 264 as school officials, parents and students chafed at the realities of consolidation.
On Election Day, voters in Buckfield, Hartford and Sumner — which had operated as Maine School Administrative District 39 before consolidation — joined the growing trend to withdraw from their current district, Regional School Unit 10.
The next step for Buckfield, Hartford and Sumner will be to hold special town meetings, where residents will vote on withdrawal agreements. If the agreements pass, town clerks will formally notify RSU 10 and the state Department of Education, and a committee will be formed to prepare final withdrawal terms.
It is a long and complicated process, strongly favored by voters in the Nezinscot Valley, and one that will further reduce the number of towns in RSU 10’s Western Foothills School District. In 2017, Canton, Carthage, Dixfield and Peru withdrew from the district. Byron followed a year later. If Buckfield, Hartford and Sumner successfully withdraw, the original 12-town district would be left serving just four: Hanover, Mexico, Roxbury and Rumford.
Last week, we reported on a $2.2 million budget gap in Farmington caused by errors in the recent property revaluation. This week, the Select Board held a special town meeting where voters discussed how to close the gap with minimal impact on taxpayers.
Voters approved a plan that will reduce the town’s undesignated fund balance to an uncomfortable level in order to keep the property tax rate manageable, but not before voicing frustration with the appraisal company responsible for the revaluation, including complaints that land values were increased without properly accounting for wetlands and floodplains. Town officials said they would review the reported errors, but made no promises about tax reductions.
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