Gray-New Gloucester school board members Wednesday night were expected to approve a preliminary plan for consolidation with School Union 29.

School officials from SAD 15, as well as those from the Mechanic Falls area, are looking ahead to a partnership, though apprehensions remain about the complicated transition. Their vote came after The Lakes Region Weekly’s deadline.

The school consolidation law calls for no more than 80 school units statewide, and for units to have 2,500 or more students unless that number is impractical, and in no case fewer than 1,200 students.

In theory, resources would be saved in several areas such as transportation, office overhead, maintenance and technology. But it is the differences from one school district to the next that make it difficult for consolidation to reach its goal of saving money.

Union 29, which includes all the schools from the towns of Mechanic Falls, Minot and Poland, would be dissolved under consolidation, which school officials say will save the taxpayers in those towns more than $1 million. But SAD 15 school board members are hesitant, because it is estimated that Gray and New Gloucester taxpayers will need to spend $1.2 million more as a result of consolidation.

Dennis Duquette, the superintendent for School Union 29, said he is looking forward to working with Gray and New Gloucester, and his dealings with the district have so far been positive. But, Duquette is also mindful of the tax burden, which he calls a “stumbling block” for consolidation, that will be placed on the backs of Gray and New Gloucester residents.

“You can’t force the voters to vote for something that is going to cost them money,” said Duquette.

Duquette said he sees several potential roadblocks to voter approval. These include factors like town pride, the desire for local control and differences in educational philosophy. But he remains optimistic that the five towns involved with the school merger can work out all the issues successfully.

“We’ve had about 15 consolidation meetings so far, and I think we’ve developed some pretty good friendships,” said Duquette.

School officials from Gray and New Gloucester are feeling optimistic, as well, even though many take issue with the way the consolidation process has been administered at the state level. The resounding criticism from school board members is that the state decided to implement consolidation without considering the indivdual needs of Maine school districts.

Sharon Vandermay, a member of the Gray-New Gloucester school board, said she has seen the consolidation effort come together in recent months. She called the consolidation committee “amazing,” but added that no amount of dedication makes up for holes in the state’s consolidation plan.

“We’ve felt a high level of frustration because there are a lot of unresolved issues at the state level that made it hard for us to move forward in some areas of the plan,” said Vandermay, of some of the problems the district is experiencing, including the high tax liability and questions about how to pay teachers under the consolidated district.

Those unresolved issues have resulted in incomplete consolidation plans from SAD 15 and School Union 29, and the majority of Maine school districts filed with the state by a Dec. 1 deadline.

Terry Towle, director of finance and operations for SAD 15, said he has heard from the commissioner of education’s office that incomplete consolidation plans are typical at this stage. He expects the school board to approve the preliminary plan, and that it is the voters who will decide on its fate, probably in June.

“I think it’s been an interesting process, and I think we’ve learned a lot about our neighbors, and our neighbors have learned a lot about us,” said Towle.

Though Towle and others view the time spent on planning for the merger as a valuable process, they are anxious to get some answers on unknown factors, like how to work out teacher and staff salaries in a consolidated district of several towns that have paid school employees differently. And, if voters do not approve the consolidation plan, school officials wonder what the next step will be.

“That’s the big question,” said Duquette.