SADs 4, 41 and 68 push plans for adult education cooperative

DOVER-FOXCROFT – School officials in Guilford, Milo and Dover-Foxcroft are forging ahead with plans to form an adult education cooperative to share services and reduce expenses in the 2005 school year.

To function, the Piscataquis Valley Adult Education Cooperative, representing about 22,000 people in SADs 4, 41 and 68, must have the blessing of state Education Commissioner Susan Gendron.

And that blessing is expected because legislation has been introduced to allow funding to support such cooperative efforts, according to school officials.

The effort also will require adoption by directors in all three districts.

“By pooling resources, it will allow more course offerings for the region,” said Greg Leavitt, SAD 68’s adult education director and curriculum coordination, on Wednesday.

Leavitt, who is expected to serve as a consultant to the cooperative board for a year, said the effort also would streamline the costs of all three districts. For instance, instead of printing three adult education brochures, there would be just one brochure listing the offerings in all three districts, he said.

A copy of the first budget draft for the cooperative, which represents a balanced budget at $210,211, was reviewed at a recent meeting of the cooperative’s planning board, according to SAD 68 Superintendent John Dirnbauer.

The three districts plan to share a full-time director at an estimated salary of $55,000. The positions in each district are now part-time but have been full-time in past years.

Based on population, the cost percentage would be 43 percent for SAD 68, which has the largest population of all three districts, 30 percent for SAD 41, and 27 percent for SAD 4.

To ensure the cooperative operates smoothly, it is proposed that quarterly meetings be held and that SAD 41 Superintendent David Walker, SAD 4 Superintendent Paul Stearns and Dirnbauer, along with a school board member from each district, serve on the board.