Orono reverses decision on school consolidation plan

ORONO – The school board unanimously reversed Tuesday night its previous decision to consolidate with Old Town and Union 90 schools. Orono has decided instead to proceed with forming a smaller regional school unit with Veazie and Glenburn, leaving Old Town to re-evaluate its plan.

The decision came after outcry from a group of Orono residents who were against the larger school unit and petitioned members to reverse their decision.

“If Orono couldn’t come up with a consolidation plan which would pass, the financial penalties would be substantial,” board Chairman Robert Swindlehurst said Thursday. “Orono, Veazie, Glenburn – at least it seems more palatable to a fairly vocal group of citizens.”

After the meeting, Swindlehurst resigned from his post on the Orono Reorganization Planning Committee, and stated Thursday that he knew he had been a “lightning rod” during the consolidation process and wanted the committee and residents to be able to focus on moving forward with the process rather than on individuals.

His RPC seat is expected to be filled in the near future by another school board member.

Swindlehurst said his hope in establishing the larger school unit with Old Town and Union 90 was that both high schools would have been able to expand the educational offerings they currently have.

“But our community was tearing itself apart,” he said.

The Old Town RPC is slated to meet Jan. 23 and will reevaluate its options at that time, Old Town Superintendent David Walker said Thursday.

Old Town filed one letter of intent with the state Department of Education which included Orono and Union 90.

“We’re not pursuing at this point any other options,” Walker said.

The concept of larger-scale consolidation including Old Town hasn’t been totally lost, Swindlehurst said. The Orono School Board also voted Tuesday night to form a steering committee with Old Town and the University of Maine separate from any state-mandated consolidation requirements.

“Now we can begin focusing on what we can begin to do without bricks and mortar,” Swindlehurst said.

In the future there might be an opportunity to form a regional high school, Swindlehurst said, but for now the concentration is expected to be on expanding programming with the university as a key partner.

“Down the road it may be that a regional high school comes out of this, but again, that would be changing the culture so it would make more sense down the road,” he said.

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