JAY — A consolidated Jay-Livermore-Livermore Falls school district would save an estimated $300,000 in its third year, Jay Superintendent Robert Wall said Tuesday.

That includes restoring some of the programs taken away from students during the decline in the economy, he said.

Wall and Regional School Unit 36 Superintendent Sue Pratt presented a draft plan for consolidation of Jay schools and Regional School Unit 36 in Livermore and Livermore Falls to a regional planning committee.

Combining buildings and staff is where the savings are, Wall said.

The savings, according to the proposal, would come through such areas as:

* Staff attrition, which both superintendents said they preferred over staff reduction.

* Staff reorganization and reduction.

* Combined classes with realistic teacher/pupil ratios.

* Contract negotiations.

* One superintendent instead of two.

* Business services in one location,

* Elimination of redundant supervisory positions.

* Fewer schools by having students in central locations.

There is a recommendation to close Livermore Falls Middle School and send those students to Jay in the first year of the plan in 2011-12. Another recommendation is to close Livermore Falls High School in 2012-13 and send those students to Jay.

In the first year of the plan, if voters in all three towns approve the final version on Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2011, Regional School Unit 36 would avoid a $163,000 state penalty and Jay, $201,000 for not complying with the state’s school reorganization law, Wall said. The penalties come in the form of less educational subsidy from the state.

All three towns would have to approve the plan before it could go into effect July 1, 2011, Wall said.

The plan calls for a 13-member board to oversee the school system. Six members would be from Jay, four from Livermore Falls and three from Livermore. Each director would have one vote.

The board makeup may be revised based on new population counts. However, planning committee member Jim Chaousis said the Governance Subcommittee discovered it would take a large shift population before the apportionment of the board changed.

The new consolidated school system would assume staff contracts with each contract remaining in place until they expire, Wall said. Most contracts expire in 2011 with four contracts — teachers and education technicians in Jay and two administrator contracts in RSU 36 — set to expire in 2012. The Personnel and Staffing Subcommittee previously reported that the contracts are very similar.

The new system would have three years to come up with new contracts for all employees, Pratt said.

The cost sharing formula for the new system would only be based on 100 percent of state valuation for the education costs that exceed the state’s essential programs and service finance model, Wall said.

The rest of the budget would be covered by state education subsidy and required local matches to get that money, he said.

“It really does not mean a tremendous fluctuation on taxes,” Wall said. “There are a few things Jay is over on EPS and there are few things that RSU 36 is over on EPS.”

There will be two more readings of the draft plan as the finishing touches are completed at 6 p.m. Tuesdays Oct. 5 and 19, at the Jay High School library.

The planning committee will take a final vote on it at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 26, at the same place. Then both school boards would need to vote on sending it to the commissioner of the Department of Education. Once approved there, it would go to voters.

dperry@sunjournal.com