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On Tuesday March 24th, Acton residents will go to the polls to vote whether to join into an Alternative Organizational Structure (AOS) with Wells-Ogunquit CSD. There are important questions that voters need answers to in order to make an informed decision.
Q. What is an Alternative Organizational Structure (AOS)?
A. An AOS is by Statute, a combination of school units totaling 1,200 students or more (1000 in some cases), in which some functions are combined and some costs are shared. The Superintendents/Finance office, Special Education Admin., Transportation Admin, and possibly some Curriculum/Assessment admin. are to be consolidated and governed by an AOS Board. Other school functions such as School Admin.(principal‚s office), Co-Extra Curricula, Guidance, Library, etc. will likely be governed by the local School Committee.
Q. Why form an AOS with Wells-Ogunquit CSD?
A. The Acton Reorganization Planning Committee (RPC) sent letters of intent to the Sanford and Noble school districts but both chose not to consolidate with Acton. Under Statute districts like Sanford and Noble, with 2,500 students or more are not required to consolidate. WOCSD is the only area district that needed a partner and because both districts are minimum state subsidy receivers, forming an AOS is mathematically less complicated.
Q. Will forming an AOS transfer our students to Wells?
A. NO. Acton Elementary School will continue to educate our K-8 students. The Acton high school students will continue to attend Sanford High School under the present contractual agreement.
Q. If Acton becomes part of the AOS will we lose some local control of education?
A. YES. Governance of the AOS functions will be done by the AOS Board. This Board will be comprised of 3 Wells-Ogunquit members and 2 Acton members. Each member will have a standard weighted vote based on student population. With the present student numbers each Acton AOS Board member would have 110 votes compared to 260 votes for each WOCSD member. Therefore, 2 Acton members could not out-vote one WOCSD member. Acton would have representation on the AOS Board but no real voting power.
Q. How will AOS costs be shared?
A. Cost sharing is based on student population. With the present average enrollments, Acton‚s share of the AOS budget would be about 22%.
Q. How is the budget adopted?
A. This is a bit of a complicated process. The budget would be adopted in two parts.
PART 1- The AOS budget would be voted on at a combined budget meeting with Wells, Ogunquit, and Acton residents. Acton‚s local School Committee budget would be voted on at a local budget meeting by only Acton voters.
PART 2- Then the AOS budget is voted on at referendum and passed by a total of all three of the communities‚ votes combined. Acton‚s local budget is also voted on at the same referendum and passed by the total votes from Acton only.
Q. Will this AOS save money?
A. Although the Reorganization Planning Committee cannot pre-determine what the AOS Board will do if formed, we did make some budget projections that we submitted to the Dept. of Ed. These projections are only best guesses but suggest that at least for the near future, there will be no savings. This is due to several cost factors. Proportionately Wells-Oqunquit spends more on Curriculum/Assessment than Acton, and we would cost share some of this or all of this depending on what the AOS Board decided. Extra costs also need to be figured in for Acton‚s share of the AOS renting space in Wells, AOS legal and audit fees, and the obligation to honor Acton‚s superintendent contract until 2012. This could offset any savings from having less administrative personnel. Furthermore, the Statute states that collective bargaining agreements in an AOS need to be made consistent. Depending on the ultimate definition of consistent this could be problematic because WOCSD teacher salaries average about 15% higher than Acton teacher salaries which could increase the Acton budget salary line as much as $200,000.
Q. Is there a penalty for not consolidating?
A. YES. The penalty is loss of half of our state subsidy which based on this years figures would total about $127,899.00 unless the Commissioner of Education waived the penalty. Both districts have to vote YES, for the AOS to be formed. By the RPC doing due diligence and developing a plan we avoided the 100% penalty.
Q. If the proposed AOS with WOCSD doesn‚t pass, what‚s next?
A. The School Committee/RPC would likely get legal advice and consult with the state facilitator about our options. Could we be a donut-hole surrounded by districts already in compliance? Could we file a different alternative plan? Will the penalty be implemented and when? These are questions that will undoubtedly have to be answered.
If you have any questions before the March 24th vote, feel free to contact me at (207) 636-1780 and the Acton RPC can get the information that you need.
Dave Cote
Acton Reorganization Planning Committee (RPC) Chair |
