EUSTIS — As of late Tuesday no voting results had been received on whether residents wanted to file a petition for withdrawal with the SAD 58 Board of Directors and with the state commissioner of education to begin the process of withdrawing from the five-town school district.
Voters also authorized the withdrawal committee, which will be created, to spend up to $40,000 from town’s undesignated fund and authorized the Eustis Board of Selectmen to issue notes in the name of the town or otherwise pledge the credit of the town in an amount not to exceed $40,000 for this purpose.
The money would be used to pay a withdrawal consultant.
Members of the so-called Save Our School panel has been the principal organizer of the withdrawal effort to preserve the Stratton Elementary School. The school has been on the chopping block in an effort for the district to save money.
If voters approve withdrawing, Steven Bowen, Maine’s commissioner of the Department of Education, will instruct the town to establish a committee to draft an agreement. The school board chairman would meet with the withdrawal committee within 30 days of the Eustis town clerk’s report of the vote. The withdrawal committee would submit its negotiations with the school board to decide the cost divisions and budget changes. It may submit that proposed agreement to the commissioner within 90 days, but the commissioner may grant a request for an extension of time to provide the agreement. Once the commissioner has received the final proposal, he has 60 days to grant conditional approval or suggest changes.
Residents would have a chance to review the proposal at a public hearing. The process would take several months and many meetings, but if voters approve, Eustis residents could finalize withdrawal plans before the start of the 2013 school year in September.
dperry@sunjournal.com
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