STOCKTON SPRINGS - After four years of negotiations and three years of no contract, teachers and staff from Regional School Unit 20 reached an agreement with the district's board of directors on a contract that reportedly closes the salary gap between teachers from the two preconsolidated school districts.

School Administrative Districts 34 (Belfast, Belmont, Morrill, Northport, Searsmont and Swanville) and 56 (Frankfort, Searsport and Stockton Springs) were joined in 2009 as part of a statewide push for school consolidation.

One requirement of the merger was to unify teacher compensation under a single contract. Former SAD 34 teachers generally had higher salaries, which meant the district would either have to pony up the difference to bring the former SAD 56 teachers up to the same level, or make a compromise involving pay cuts to the teachers from the former SAD 34 schools.

The salary gap, according to both RSU 20 Superintendent Brian Carpenter and teachers' union president BettyLu Brown was the reason the unified contract remained in limbo for three years after the old contracts expired.

The new contract was ratified unanimously by the RSU 20 board of directors. The document was not available for viewing on Tuesday night, but Carperter and Brown painted the broad strokes of the deal.

Carpenter described the changes to health insurance premiums as primarily affecting former SAD 56 teachers, whose premium payment would go from 15 to 20 percent. Former SAD 34 teachers currently pay 20 percent of their premiums, he said. Outside of compensation, the superintendent described most of the contract as "boilerplate" that is similar across the old and new contracts.

The district set aside between $550,000 and $600,000 to cover expenses related to resolving the contract. Carpenter said on Tuesday that the amount would easily cover the retroactive pay raises and teachers' stipeneds for the current year.

The vote got a somewhat giddy reaction from the school board and also the four negotiators from the teachers union in attendance.

Brown said members of the Education Association by the Bay voted in favor of the contract on Friday. The union has 173 members. Brown told the board the vote was 111 to 9 .

Asked if she was happy with the resolution, Brown said, "Absolutely. We've been negotiating for four years. People worked for three years without a contract."

She credited the change in the administration last summer for speeding up the process at the end. Carpenter attributed the resolution of the contract to years of work by school board members and other staff, as well as the teachers. 

"Congratulations to the teachers," he said. "I hope it helps move things along."

The withdrawal plan: delayed or stalled?

The contract resolution could be viewed as a major step in merging two districts that have remained divided not only by pay scales, but by educational philosophies, local identities and team mascots

But as Belfast High School teacher Steve Hutchings reminded the board Tuesday, the six former SAD 34 towns are well into the process of petitioning to withdraw from the consolidated district in favor of something like what existed prior to 2009.

The secession movement originated in Belfast with grumblings that the consolidation placed a larger share of the districts costs on the shoulders of city taxpayers. Voters approved a ballot referendum last June to petition the commissioner of the Department of Education to withdraw from the district, along with a legal fund to see it through.

Residents in the other five towns of the former SAD 34 subsequently passed the same resolution, minus the legal fees, and as such have looked to Belfast to draft the withdrawal plan.

According to Steve Hutchings of Belfast's withdrawal committee, that plan was submitted to the RSU 20 board in early December but, as he saw it, nothing had happened since.

Hutchings said two months was more than enough time for the board's attorney to review the statutorily defined 18 point plan and that the board was simply stalling. Hutchings said the committee is hoping to bring the withdrawal proposal to a referendum vote in the spring, but it must first be accepted by the RSU 20 board, then reviewed by the DOE commissioner and go through a process of public hearings. In short, he said, time is running out.

"The voters need their plan," he said. "Whether it's good or bad, give them that opportunity."

School board chairman Anthony Bagley confirmed that the district had received the plan but said a review had been delayed because the district's attorney is dealing with a number of other withdrawal proposals in other districts and charter school plans. Bagley said the attorney told Superintendent Carpenter that the board would have the proposal back by the end of the week.

Asked later what he thought of the board's response, Hutchings called it "a new lie."

"I heard the same excuses a month ago," he said.

Stockton Springs Elementary

Tuesday's meeting was held at Stockton Springs Elemenatary School, which has been considered by the district for closure or reorganization as a cost-saving measure. The school has seen declining enrollment in recent years that has been exacerbated by the transfer of some Stockton Springs students to Searsport Elementary School.

Last fall, Carpenter put forward four ideas for the school. The first, and least popular, was to close it. The other three involved variations on adding Pre-K classes and a three-year-old program to fill the empty classrooms.

Several citizens spoke in support of keeping the school open and asked questions related to how the decision would be made. Bagley said the board would make the decision, and the question would only go to a referendum if the board took the route of closing the school.

Before the board makes any decision, he said, the proposals will go back to the district's finance committee, which meets on Feb. 18 at the district's central office in Belfast. Bagley said the board could make a decision at it's subsequent meeting on Feb. 26, to be held in Searsport.

In other business, the board voted unanimously after a closed-door meeting to expell a district student. Superintendent Carpenter declined to give any further details, including the reason for the expulsion or the grade level of the student, which he said are protected under district policy.

Contact Ethan Andrews by e-mail at news@penbaypilot.com