DIXFIELD — The RSU 10 board overwhelmingly voted Monday night to increase the scope of a study that aims to project student enrollment numbers to determine space needs for each area of the district.
The board agreed to spend $5,000 for the study by Planning Decisions Inc. of Portland.
Superintendent Tom Ward said the funding will come from the maintenance and transportation account that came in under budget.
When making the motion to approve, board vice-chairman Bruce Ross said that although he didn’t like spending extra money, it was important to look at enrollment projections.
“Do we stay where we are? We need to follow through and get information,” he said.
“I don’t think we can move on without spending the money,” said Chairman Jerry Wiley.
The study will show enrollment trends and projections by grade and grade grouping for the 12 member towns combined, as well as the projected enrollment by grade and grade grouping for each of the 12 towns separately.
The board is in the process of looking into the most economically feasible ways to educate its children in the district’s 10 school buildings. Part of the study may show that some students should be moved from where they currently attend school to another building that may be closer to their homes.
Town boundaries won’t necessarily dictate where a child will attend school, Ward has said.
Hartford representative, Shawn White, asked whether the board should contract for the study when Dixfield has filed a petition to start the possible withdrawal of the town from RSU 10.
Ward said withdrawal from a region is a long process of up to two years, if a town’s residents decide to go ahead.
“We need to move ahead and keep these things out on the periphery. We need to stay on course,” he said.
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