Building on and renaming the year-old Sheepscot Regional Educational Program would spare Sheepscot Valley Regional School Unit 12 from losing about $39,000 in state aid and later, about twice as much, Superintendent of Schools Howie Tuttle said April 26.

SREP, a special education program, still goes by that name and will still move to Wiscasset Middle High School, Wiscasset Superintendent of Schools Heather Wilmot said. The April 13 application to the state for Sheepscot Regional Service Center states Wiscasset, SVRSU 12, Great Salt Bay Consolidated School District, Newcastle, Damariscotta, Bremen, Bristol, South Bristol, Jefferson, Nobleboro, and Bath-based Regional School Unit 1 are seeking to form the center.

“Nothing would change for the SREP program,” Wilmot texted in response to questions last week. “The regional service center is an opportunity to expand the current efforts to be more efficient, improve learning outcomes for kids and offer expanded professional development opportunities.”

According to Tuttle and the application, the expanded program would provide regional special education training and support services; joint transportation for students who are homeless; bulk ordering, buying and sharing of specialized equipment and technology; student assessment services; professional development; and possibly other services.

Maine Department of Education Commissioner Robert Hasson Jr. tells Tuttle in an April 18 letter, the application for the proposed Sheepscot Regional Service Center has all the information needed for conditional approval. Final state approval of it and an interlocal agreement would come after school boards have signed that agreement, the letter states.

Tuttle told Alna selectmen and other residents April 26, the plan has one more hurdle, local approval. For SVRSU, the proposal faces voters at the district's budget meeting at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, May 17 at Chelsea Elementary School.

He said later, the center can start July 1 if at least two districts approve it by then. The others considering it can join later, he said.

As for Wiscasset, Wilmot said it will likely consider joining nearer the year’s end. “The (school) committee could surely vote prior to next winter to begin the local approval process. The committee needs the time to make an informed decision and follow up with the necessary local approval process,” she said.

Tuttle was in Alna reviewing SVRSU’s proposed $21.4 million budget, up 3.54 percent from this year’s.