MOSCOW -- In the wake of the referendum vote to retain Maine's school-consolidation law, officials from Bingham-based School Administrative District 13 and North Anson-based SAD 74 are stepping forward with a plan to create the smallest combined district in the state.

The committee members charged with consolidating administrative functions of School Administrative Districts 13 and 74 will vote Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Moscow Elementary School on whether to approve a reorganization plan. They also will vote whether to submit the plan to school board members for further action. The state would then need to stamp its approval, before the plan is presented to voters.

If the districts do not consolidate before July 1, the SAD 13 towns of Bingham and Moscow will incur annual penalties of $42,309 from the Maine Department of Education; the SAD 74 towns of Anson, North Anson, Solon, New Portland and Embden will incur annual penalties of $150,253. The "penalty" means the state will send that much less money, requiring the districts to raise more, said Jim Rier, director of finance and operations at the education department.

Those penalties do not include the money the districts will lose because they are ineligible for select state grants that only fund consolidated districts. Nor do they include potential losses from receiving diminished preference on state ratings for school construction, said Dr. Kenneth Smith, who currently serves as superintendent for both districts.

School officials estimate that if the districts' two central offices combine into one, the newly formed regional school unit would save $250,000, spread over the first three years of consolidation.

The state education department requires that a regional school unit have a minimum of 1,000 students. If SAD 13 and 74 become one unit, it would have 1,009 students.

Rier congratulated the regional planning committee members. "I think they deserve to be complimented for staying the course and keeping the plan together, when many people set things aside at the end of the session last June," he said. "I believe this particular group continued to work, and that's why they are able to submit as complete a plan as they have at this point."

Opponents of the districts' consolidation have pointed to what they believe would be a loss in local control. And they have expressed concern that costs would not be evenly distributed across the new district unit.

But officials maintain that the two districts have a history of collaboration, especially with Smith serving as superintendent of both districts. And, as enrollment continues to drop at double the state average, it is logical to combine, Smith said.

Consolidation is cost-effective, Smith said. "Some people will be opposed to it because they're opposed conceptually. But I believe, financially, we're losing huge amounts of state subsidies, and the future holds the same thing."

Some people simply do not understand what consolidation means, said Mitchell Quint, chairman of the regional planning committee. Consolidation does not mean that students will attend new schools. It means that one office will close, service contracts will be centralized as they expire and duplicated positions will be cut.

The reorganization plan calls for a reduction in office staff. Legal expenses, school board costs and any costs associated with an office -- such as photocopying, telephones, lights and heat -- will be reduced, Smith said.

Voters in Madison-based School Administrative District 59 and in SAD 13 rejected a merger proposal with SAD 74 in January. Afterwards, officials from the North Anson- and Bingham-based districts decided to pursue consolidation without SAD 59. After re-calculating financial figures and waiting out the referendum, regional planning committee members are ready to vote on the plan tomorrow.

Residents must approve the consolidation plan before Jan. 31 in order to meet the new regional school unit's operational deadline of July 1, Rier said. After Jan. 31, residents would need time to approve a new school board, which would hire a superintendent and plan next year's budget.

Erin Rhoda -- 474-9534

erhoda@mainetoday.com