BY MECHELE COOPER

Staff Writer

School Union 133 communities recently voted to submit a consolidation plan to the state education commissioner for an eight-town regional school union.

Windsor and Somerville school committees passed the plan last week and the Palermo School Committee agreed to it on Monday. School officials in Alna and Wiscasset also endorsed the plan Monday.

Greg Potter, School Union 133 Superintendent, said the plan will be dropped off with Department of Education Commissioner Susan Gendron sometime today.

He said the concept of the plan is for eight towns -- Wiscasset, Alna, Westport Island, Whitefield, Windsor, Chelsea, Palermo and Somerville -- to form a regional school unit comprised of 2,215 kindergarten-through-grade-12 students.

Submitting the plan to Gendron is step two of a four-part process, he said.

"We'll be awaiting the commissioner's response, then (the Sheepscot Valley Regional School Planning Committee) has 30 days to respond," Potter said Tuesday.

"I do believe she'll be much quicker than anticipated. We should here from her within two weeks. From that point, we'll consider her reaction to the plan and whether or not there are pieces we need to consider further."

Any changes required by the state would need review by the regional planning committee that negotiated the agreement -- and probably by each town's school committee, Palermo School Committee Chairman Simeon Blake Brown said.

After Gendron OKs the plan, the committee will schedule public hearings. It will be voted on in referendum on Nov. 4, he said.

"In the plan, the existing arrangements including any contracts the town may hold for services for secondary students will remain in effect," Potter said. "We don't have any contract arrangements with high schools."

Potter said there will be a total of 20 members on the board of directors for the new regional school unit, with weighted voting and a total of 7,245 votes.

Alna, Palermo, Somerville and Westport Island would appoint two members each; the towns of Chelsea, Whitefield and Windsor, three.

Wiscasset's three members would have 1,291 votes, the highest number; Alna's two members would have 342 votes, Palermo's would have 679 votes.

Potter said the number of representatives is based on population.

"At this point, we're fairly confident it will be approved," Potter said.

School Union 132 Superintendent Frank Boynton said both Chelsea and Whitefield, member towns of his union, voted unanimously to accept the plan.

"It was a lot of hard work," Boynton said. "We met once a week since January working feverishly in between to put this plan together. I'm pleased with it. And hope it is successful. I'm looking forward to making this work."

Palermo's approval on Monday was neither an endorsement nor a rejection of the plan. The decision merely means that committee members think the plan is complete and meets state requirements.

Four Palermo School Committee members voted to forward the plan. Donald Barrett abstained on the vote, saying he agrees the plan meets requirements but does not want to appear to support it.

Palermo officials say that, under the plan, school choice applies to students from kindergarten through grade 12 in Alna and Westport Island; to high-school students only in Chelsea, Palermo, Somerville, Whitefield and Windsor; and to no Wiscasset student.

Local school committees would cease to exist. However, Potter said, because Palermo and Windsor were interested in retaining them, the plan includes a procedure for reinstating them after the first three years, if a town's voters want to.

A full version of the plan can be found on the Wiscasset schools Web site at www.wiscasset.k12.me.us.

Correspondent Mary Grow contributed to this report.