Outline of Collaborative Functions to be shared by MDI school boards through Inter-local agreement

(DRAFT: 5/21/2008)

Name:

Mount Desert Island Schools; (or Mount Desert Island Schools System?; or Mount Desert Island Regional School District?)

Interlocal agreement between municipal school boards to jointly administer regional school operations:

• may include a collaborative agreement under chapter 114
• must include an interlocal agreement under Title 30-A, chapter 115

Parties to agreement:

CSD #7 Mount Desert Island High School (a quasi-municipal school district)

Bar Harbor School Department

Mount Desert School Department

Southwest Harbor School Department

Tremont School Department

Cranberry Isles School Department

Frenchboro School Department

SAD 76 (Swan’s Island School)

…and, potentially, other area school units in the future, by mutual agreement [through procedure to be established]

[Procedure for withdrawal from agreement.]

Collaborative shared functions:

• System administration
• Employment of the superintendent and central office staff
• Central business functions including accounting, reporting, payroll, financial management, purchasing insurance and auditing;
• Receiving state allocations
• Administration of individual local budgets and assessments
• Administration of special education;
• Administration of transportation;
• Adoption of a core curriculum and procedures for standardized testing and assessment aligned with the system of learning results established in Title 20-A, section 6209
• Reporting required by state or federal regulation;
• Employment of regional employees;
• Adoption of consistent school policies
• Adoption of consistent school calendars
• Negotiating and administering consistent collective bargaining agreements.
• (Administration of food service?)
• (Administration of common or regional reserves?)
• Such other functions as the local school boards may agree upon in the future. (By what procedure?)

Adoption of the regional budget

· The plan must include procedures for conducting a kindergarten through grade 12 budget approval pursuant to subparagraph (2).

· The budget procedures of members of an alternative organizational structure must conform to the format and referendum procedures set forth in sections 1485 and 1486 for regional school units except for the time limits pursuant to section 1486, subsection 2.

· The budget validation referendum for all members of the alternative organizational structure must be conducted on the same day.

Governance and representation:

• Composition of regional board
• all local board members automatically become regional board members (similar model to present Union 98 board)?,
• or a subset delegated by local board (similar model to present High School Board)?
• voting weights (by population, enrollment, valuation, staff size, local budget)?

Finance

• Formula for assessment of inter-local expenses (similar to Dick Fox formula? (enrollment, staff size, budget) (valuation?))
• Formula for allocation of state (special education) subsidy. (By student need?, by local school history?)

Procedure for modification of this agreement