School department officials and employees, newly elected State Rep. Brian Langley and one reporter attended the Nov. 19 meeting.

Members of the Reorganization Planning Committee presented plans for a single regional school unit composed of Ellsworth, six Union 92 towns (Eastbrook, Hancock, Lamoine, Maraville, Otis and Waltham) and Union 96 (Franklin, Gouldsboro, Sorrento, Steuben, Sullivan and Winter Harbor).

Law requires a public meeting on the proposed RSU plan in every member community before the Dec. 9 vote.

“I’ve heard a lot of talk that the kids were forgotten in all this, and I want to assure you that was not the case,” Ellsworth School Committee Chairman Dick Gray said during the presentation.

Area planners have worked on the plan for over a year. Under the plan, the RSU would be governed by a 15-member board. Each town would have one representative on the board, except for Ellsworth, which would have three. Votes would be weighted based on population.

The four current superintendent’s offices (Franklin has its own superintendent) would be combined into one office headed by one superintendent. There could also be a satellite office if necessary to cover the wide geographic area of the proposed RSU, planners said.

Most of the current estimated savings in the plan are due to the streamlining of administrative services. Annual savings are estimated at $301,000. Member towns would also avoid a total of $747,000 in state penalties for not joining. Planners cited possible future savings in coordinating bus routes, joint purchasing and sharing staff.

Asked whether students living on a town line could attend school in another, closer town in the RSU, Gray said, “Certainly. It’s all within one district.You can move kids anywhere within the district or allow them to go.”

Hancock County Technical Center teacher Ben Speed asked if it would be possible for a teacher to be transferred from one end of the district to the other. State facilitator Ray Freve said it would be more likely that a staff member whose position had been eliminated would be offered a position in another part of the district.

“I’m willing to bet 50 percent of people aren’t even going to know anything’s different,” Freve said of the first year the proposed RSU is operational.

By law, the RSU cannot shut down any schools for the first year. The law also makes it difficult to eliminate personnel during that first year. Moreover, the member towns are bound by existing contracts and leases.

Planners said many decisions would have to be left to the future RSU board if it is formed. Members could evaluate further cost savings and work to make curriculum offerings more equitable, planners said.