Westbrook, Windham and Raymond have embarked on preliminary talks about consolidating the three school districts into one, even though two of the districts have enough students to remain autonomous under the state’s new school consolidation law.

Westbrook Superintendent Stan Sawyer, along with Colleen Hilton, school committee chairwoman, and Greg Smith, vice chairman, met Aug. 8 with their Windham and Raymond counterparts in a first-round session to see what the group thought of the idea. Sawyer, Hilton and Windham Superintendent Sandy Prince all said the meeting went well.

“The meeting last night was very upbeat. It was very positive,” Sawyer said last week.

Hilton said she had talked to some of the Westbrook school employees and other members of the community, including Rep. Ann Peoples (D-Westbrook), who were all “kind of excited about the project.”

Neither Westbrook nor Windham is required to consolidate with any other district under the state’s redistricting mandate because they meet minimum size requirements of 2,500 students. But both Sawyer and Prince said all questions about how to save money should be asked, and the question of consolidation is one of them.

Westbrook has an approximate student population of 2,600 students, Windham, 2,800 and Raymond, 600.

Sawyer made it known at a public meeting in July that he was pursuing talks about consolidation, but declined to name the other districts. Now that the initial meeting has happened, each school committee will discuss whether the talks should proceed.

The Windham and Raymond Consolidation Committee – which formed in early July – will be meeting for a third time Thursday. The Windham school board will meet next Wednesday, where Prince will recommend that the talks move forward. Westbrook’s school committee will also meet next Wednesday for its first meeting after the summer break, and Sawyer will be recommending the talks go forward, as well.

Raymond’s superintendent, Sandy Caldwell, did not return calls seeking comment for this story.

If the school committees approve further exploration of a three-district consolidation, a large committee, consisting of representatives from the three communities, would be formed. It would include officials from the city and the school department as well as local representatives and business people.

Sawyer said the outcome of discussions could be anything from a full consolidation, to a consolidation of administrative functions only, to no consolidation at all. The Westbrook school district for several years has been working with the city to consolidate functions like maintenance to cut costs, and earlier this year Sawyer pointed to that as the way Westbrook would continue to head.

Regardless of whether the districts consolidate, the state requires cost cutting in four areas – system administration, transportation, maintenance, and special education – by about 5 percent.

Prince said the group would need to look at data to see what the best outcome for students would be and where the efficiencies would fall. Prince said he’ll be recommending to the school board that the consolidation be explored further.

Sawyer and Hilton talked about the possibilities that came with a district having two high schools, suggesting it could be possible that one school would focus on teaching the sciences, and another the humanities.

As part of the redistricting plan handed down by the state, each school district is required to file a “notice of intent” by the end of August to inform Education Commissioner Susan Gendron of the options the districts are exploring.

All consolidation plans must be approved by a voter referendum.