MINUTES OF THE TRANSITION TEAM MEETING HELD FRIDAY,

MARCH 16, 2007 AT 4:00 P.M. AT THE PATTEN FREE LIBRARY



Members Present: Jean Flink, Darla Jewett, Bill Haggett, Ross Berkowitz, Julie Rice, Kristin Malin, David Barber, Tom MacDonald, Chet Garrison, David Miller, William Shuttleworth, Eloise Vitelli


Other guests: Bob Kalish, David Longstreet, Tim Harkins, Joel Austin, Paul Seaman


  1. Call to order

Meeting called to order at 4:05 p.m. by Mr. Garrison.


  1. Opening remarks

Several members commented on the testimony regarding LD 910 and the important

next steps.


  1. Adjustments to agenda

No adjustments


  1. Old Business

4.1: Approve minutes of March 9th


Bill Haggett moved to approve the minutes, Ross B, seconded the motion. It was then noted that the minutes did not reflect that Bill H was in attendance. Motion approved unanimously with the correction that Mr. Haggett was in attendance for the March 9th meeting.


5.0. New Business

5.1: Updated ground rules were distributed


5.2: School Choice


Darla J. moved that the first paragraph of page 8 of the RTF be approved with the insertion of the words (designated in bold), be approved as defining school choice; B. Haggett seconded. Motion reads as: “All students will attend the regional public schools, with no tuition choice to schools, private or public, outside the region. Since some students will already be attending schools outside the region under town paid tuition agreements when the regional system is adopted, those individuals will be grandfathered and that same opportunity in the same school, will be provided to all other children within the same family. The intent of this recommendation is to provide family continuity, for one generation of children, in situations where educational relationships are already established.” Motion passed unanimously.



5.3: Bath Maintenance/Infrastructure Repairs


Much discussion on the deferred maintenance issues in Bath took place. William prepared a summary of engineer’s reports from 2004 that showed the total amount of deferred maintenance in each school, compared to the estimated value of school replacement at that time. It was noted that Bath is submitting a capital bond in the amount of $2.6 million to repair all schools for a period of 5 to 7 years while they concurrently submit application for new school construction for the high school and a single elementary school.


There was further discussion about how to obtain accurate information on the value of school properties. Mr. Miller indicated that after looking at the handout that lists the deferred maintenance/assets list, that it demonstrates equity between both systems. We will continue to identify the questions that need to be addressed in this matter.


    1. School Debt

Though no formal decisions were made, there was discussion about the debt versus benefit to all students. Is it fair for SU 47 towns to absorb Bath’s debt? Did SU 47 students benefit from this debt? Were the upgrades, additions and repairs beneficial to SU 47 students? Mr. Miller indicated that the report should stand regarding debt.


Public comment: It was noted that exact planning for public questions would be essential. Also, Mr. Harkins thanked the Transition Team for their work and stressed that we will need to continue to flush out the details and get further community input. He noted that William’s report was very inspirational and said that it was a great vision for the future.


Finally, Darla and Kristin addressed the timeline with much appreciation expressed by the team. This will be more carefully examined next week.


Meeting adjourned at 6:15 p.m.