Bangor updated on consolidation

BANGOR – The city school system’s legal counsel told members of the school committee Wednesday night that he does not believe the state Department of Education can compel Bangor and Glenburn to consolidate.

Education Commissioner Susan Gendron wrote to the Superintendent of Bangor schools earlier this month saying that while Bangor’s plan to opt out of the state-mandated consolidation process does comply with the law, she planned to convene a meeting in the region to which representatives from Bangor and Glenburn will be invited.

Asked during Wednesday night’s Bangor School Committee meeting whether Gendron could compel Bangor and Glenburn to consolidate, the School Department’s legal counsel, Daniel Stockford of Lewiston, said, “No, I don’t believe she has that authority under the law.”

Stockford added, however, that the law requires school units that do not merge to show cost savings.

Bangor Superintendent Robert Ervin told he committee Wednesday that he wrote back to Gendron pointing out that Glenburn had a number of alternatives to merging with Bangor and that any financial data related to the merger should be provided to local school officials at least three days before the meeting she plans to convene.

After weighing the pros and cons of consolidation, Bangor School Department officials have concluded that consolidating with nearby school units would not be in the city’s best interest, from both educational and financial standpoints, according to Ervin.

And with an enrollment of about 3,800 students, the Bangor School Department is well over the state-set enrollment threshold of 2,500 students, meaning that it is eligible under the state’s school unit reorganization law to opt out of the consolidation process.

Despite that, Gendron said the Education Department wants to explore the long-term sustainability of a merger between the Bangor and Glenburn school departments.

Glenburn has submitted a couple of proposals for consolidation that have not been approved by the DOE. A proposed merger between Glenburn, Orono and Veazie would not have enough students under the reorganization law, and a requested merger of Glenburn, Orrington, Dedham, Milford, SAD 63 and CSD 8 would not contain a required public high school.

The regional meeting Gendron has referred to has not yet been scheduled.

Also Wednesday night, the Bangor School Committee approved a new three-year contract with the administrators bargaining unit. The previous contract expired nearly three months ago.

The new labor pact covers about 20 administrators, including principals, assistant principals and directors of such operations as adult education and food service. It is retroactive to July 1, when the administrators’ previous contract expired, Ervin said.

Terms of the new contract include a pay increase totaling 8.4 percent over three years.

One of the more significant changes, however, involves health insurance for administrators’ family members. Administrators’ share of the cost for family coverage increased from 20 percent to 30 percent, Ervin said.