SAD 38, 48 voters OK consolidation

A slim majority of voters decided Tuesday to consolidate SADs 38 and 48.

The vote passed by just 35 votes in Etna and Dixmont, the two towns of SAD 38. The final SAD vote tally was 647-612.

There were more ayes in the SAD 48 towns of Corinna, Newport, Palmyra, Plymouth, St. Albans and Hartland, where the vote to consolidate passed by 3,448 to 2,811.

Despite the closeness of the vote in Etna and Dixmont, the chairman of the SAD 38 board said Wednesday that the towns wouldn’t have a recount.

“It passed,” said Philip Dolan, board chairman. “That’s democracy. It’s a majority.”

Tuesday’s vote will create an eight-town, 2,500-student regional school unit and eventually will eliminate high school choice for the students from Etna and Dixmont. It also avoids possible state penalties that could be more than $400,000, said William Braun, superintendent of SAD 48.

Braun said that the next step for the SADs would be to certify the votes, and then the transition to the RSU will begin.

“We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us to bring this together,” he said.