With the election over and consolidation approved, Windham and Raymond school officials are expecting a seamless transition over the coming months to a new, combined regional school unit.

“I think it will go quite smoothly,” said Jeri Keane, chairwoman of the Raymond School Board. There will likely be holdovers from the current boards elected to the new board, she said, giving the Regional School Unit 14 board some institutional knowledge of how the districts have operated in the past.

“Hopefully, we’ll have some people with some knowledge and experience to help us through the transition,” she said, adding that the two boards are conducting joint meetings.

At the first joint meeting, held Dec. 1 in the Windham Council Chambers, board members named Windham Superintendent Sandy Prince as interim secretary for the new Regional School Unit 14. In that role, Prince will act as an information hub for the two boards while coordinating the Jan. 27 elections for the new, nine-person board.

“There is a lot of communicating with both towns and school committees to make sure we pull this election off,” said Prince.

Nomination papers for the new board are now available at both town offices, and must be returned to the Windham School Department by 4 p.m. Friday, Dec. 12. The new board will be made up of six Windham residents and three Raymond residents, and will begin governing in June.

Until then, the current boards will continue to oversee their respective departments while slowly merging the two districts into one. Windham School Committee Vice Chairman Toby Pennels said the committee is committed to making sure the transition does not impact any momentum gained over the last year.

“We are trying to be careful not to allow any of this to stifle progress,” said Pennels.

The biggest challenge heading into the next year will be the budget, officials agree. The school departments are facing combined cuts in state aid of more than $600,000 in the current budget, and board members believe that a bigger shortfall awaits the next budget cycle.

“We’re going to have a tough year,” said Pennels. “No one has any illusions about that.”

Both departments are dealing with the same budget issues, said Keane, and those issues will not change when the new regional school unit takes effect.

“I think that is going to be the the first conversation. It is definitely going to be a challenge,” she said. The budget crunch will force the nascent board to make tough decisions, Keane added, which could force the members to gel as they come together in a common cause.

“Everybody’s excited for consolidation, so that will help it go smoothly,” she said.