NEW GLOUCESTER – The SAD 15 Board of Directors Wednesday heard from the man who is determining where elementary school students will go to school next year, and how they will get there.

Doug Hamlin, president of Versa Trans Solution Analysis Inc. of Albany, N.Y., told the board that his company’s software will help balance enrollment among three schools in Gray and New Gloucester.

SAD 15 is undergoing a districtwide reconfiguration that will go into effect next fall. Under the plan, the district’s three K-5 schools will be converted into two K-2 and one 3-5 schools.

Hamlin’s software will determine where the boundaries for Russell School in Gray and Memorial School in New Gloucester will be located. It will also help plan bus routes to transport the children to and from school.

Hamlin said the goal of the plan is to split the K-2 student population so that roughly 165 students attend each school. That will necessitate shifting the current boundaries south, he said.

All grades 3-5 students will attend Dunn School in New Gloucester.

The school redistricting will be paid for out of the proposed $16,307,196 budget for 2003-04 that residents will vote on by referendum Tuesday, June 10.

The cost of the study is currently being negotiated, said Brian McDonnell, director of finance and operations.

Transportation waiver approvals often sought by families for their children’s day care providers may be an issue the board will grapple with in the future.

SAD 15 has been using Hamlin’s software since 1998.

In other business, the board after a lengthy discussion agreed to form an ad hoc committee to meet with school officials regarding the future of Pennell Institute and an adjacent vacant laboratory building in Gray.

An opinion by Maine’s attorney general clarified a legal hurdle for the district to dispose or divest the properties without restrictions.

Founded in 1876 by Henry Pennell, the Pennell Institute was constructed in Gray. After Pennell’s death in 1884, a trust was established and the building was left for educational purposes to the inhabitants of Gray.

Subsequently, a science laboratory building was erected next to the Pennell Institute in 1899 by John D. Anderson in a “trust forever.”

Pennell Institue and lab were used until 1961, according to the charitable trust provisions.

Now the district says it is impractical to use the Pennell Institute for special education, adult education and alternative education and district offices.

SAD 15 was formed in the early 1960s and the buildings have served district students. The district will close the school July 1.

The ad hoc committee will be formed to determine what the best plan may be for both towns, which have a long legacy and financial investments in the facilities.

“We know what we can do legally, but we want to do it right,” said McDonnell.