In reponse to school committee comments, Boothbay Region Community School District (CSD) is discussing one-board governance. Currently, the CSD has a board of trustees responsible for the buildings and campus, and a school committee that handles broader education issues. Some committee members have asked if there is a more efficient system.

At the Oct. 8 school committee meeting, Chair Peggy Splaine clarified the district is not trying to eliminate the board of trustees. She said previous comments from committee members may have been misunderstood. Instead, Splaine said, the committee is looking for legal opinions on whether two boards are in the district's best interests.

“We did not intend it to be (construed) that we were trying to eliminate elected positions,” she said. “That was not our end goal in any way, shape or form.”

At the Sept. 10 school committee meeting, the committee discussed whether the charter provides a mechanism for a combined board. Committee member Bruce MacDonald, who has raised the issue in the past, said a consolidated board is better for governance, claiming the Boothbay CSD is the only Maine district of its kind with two. According to him, state law puts the burden of initiating a merger on school committees. The committee agreed to get advice from the district's attorney and requested a meeting with the trustees sometime after.

“I think it should happen,” committee member Stephanie Hawke responded to MacDonald. “I think the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing. And when we're spending this amount of money that we're spending, we should all be on the same page.”

At the trustees' Oct. 8 meeting, Chair Troy Lewis said he met with Splaine and Alternative Organizational Structure (AOS) 98 Superintendent Robert Kahler days before to review duties for both boards as set in the charter. However, some members said the charter has discrepencies that need to be clarified. Also, some trustees expressed confusion about the school committee's intentions. Trustee Sewall Maddocks said there should be clearer guidelines, and he expressed some concern about MacDonald’s comments. The trustees agreed more conversations are needed.

At the Oct. 8 school committee meeting, the committee again discussed its options. According to Splaine and Kahler, the district sought limited legal advice, but answers won't come easily. “They were pretty clear that we could spend a lot of time on this but, unless it was a legislative act or charter (change), any opinion we get at the end is going to be somewhat gray,” Kahler said.

Committee members were hesitant to continue, largely due to expense. MacDonald also questioned the cost, and if lawyers needed to be involved. “I'm enthusiastic about looking at it but who wants to spend a lot of money and time,” he asked.

The committee agreed the best next step is a meeting with the trustees. The committee directed Kahler to schedule one.

“If it's a money issue, I don't think it's the right time,” committee member Jenessa Garrett said. “We should also pose the question to the trustees as well because it's not just about us, it's about them.”