HOULTON – Frustration and uncertainty surrounding the school consolidation law were palpable among the members of the SAD 29 board late last week, as panelists met with local legislators to determine what the law might mean for the towns and students that make up the district.

Board members gathered with state Rep. Richard Cleary of Houlton and Sen. Roger Sherman of Hodgdon to discuss the consolidation law at a workshop at the Southside School on Thursday evening.

The state’s school consolidation law has come under fire from regional planning committees over the last few months, and in response, state Education Commissioner Susan Gendron has proposed changes intended to address some of the critics’ questions.

Earlier this month, the Legislature’s Education Committee recommended passage of Gendron’s proposed changes to the law, which are intended to eliminate some of the barriers to consolidation.

The Education Committee also is scheduled to begin hearings on Jan. 4 to look over more than 60 amendments submitted by legislators to address problems with the law.

The legislative proposals deal with a wide variety of issues, such as cost-sharing, debt service and hiring school personnel. One bill would require the state to cover the costs involved in school consolidation. There also are several proposals to repeal the law.

Both Cleary and Sherman acknowledged that at this point there are many unknowns about the law.

The legislators took questions from board members, who expressed concern about a law that some have speculated could result in a loss of local control and would not end up saving the district money in the long run.

The state Department of Education has recommended that SAD 29 join with SAD 25 in Stacyville, SAD 70 in Hodgdon, SAD 14 in Danforth, and CSD 9 in Dyer Brook to form what would be known as Regional School Unit 4.

Members of the regional planning committee have been meeting on a local level since late summer in order to plan, organize and strategize.

The board said that members of the various subcommittees of the larger group that are charged with tasks such as making decisions about governance and representation, assets and teacher contracts, and sorting out details of the proposed RSU’s financial future, have had a tough job over the past few months.

“Among our regional planning committee members, the difficulties and challenges of developing a plan that will work for everyone are becoming clearer,” SAD 29 Superintendent Steve Fitzpatrick said Thursday evening.

“This plan is supposed to be saving us money,” Board Chairman Brian McGuire said. “We’ve been looking at it, and it is not going to happen.”

Both McGuire and fellow board member Glenn Miller expressed frustration about the law and said that Gendron has been unavailable to assist in answering their questions and to listen to the board’s concerns.

While some board members said they hoped the law would be repealed, both lawmakers said they were unsure about whether or not that would happen.

Cleary said he felt that the Legislature’s Rural Caucus would be key to making changes to the law that are beneficial to schools in rural Maine. The bloc of lawmakers will meet on Jan. 2 to discuss issues surrounding the consolidation law.

Sherman, who is vice chairman of the caucus, agreed that the group would be crucial to representing and advocating for rural school districts.

Both Cleary and Sherman said the caucus was hoping to get enough votes to make amendments to the law.

The school board took no action during the workshop.