DIXFIELD — RSU 10 Superintendent Craig King and business manager Mary Dailey will meet with Byron selectmen Monday, Nov. 18, to discuss their concerns about the town’s cost of sending children to the district.
The decision came after a letter was received at the Nov. 12 School Board meeting from Byron that officially notified the district that it intends to establish a withdrawal committee, and that residents have agreed to spend up to $25,000 for any costs associated with the process.
At the annual town meeting in March, Byron residents voted 24-12 to file a petition for withdrawal with the commissioner of the state’s Department of Education.
RSU 10 includes the towns of Canton, Carthage, Dixfield, Peru, Buckfield, Hartford, Sumner, Byron, Mexico, Roxbury, Rumford and Hanover.
Byron officials say the town sends 17 students to RSU 10 while the district reports there are 23.
King said Wednesday afternoon that the letter, along with the petition, is all the information he has about the town’s intent. He said that with a limited number of students sent from very small towns, sometimes the per pupil cost is higher than those for larger towns because of the formula used to assess costs.
The cost for each Byron student is about $10,000 while the costs for pupils from many of the other towns in RSU 10 is about $8,000. However, if an unaffiliated town should require special education services, those costs would be assumed by the town, and not spread over an entire district.
According to the letter, Byron selectmen believe education costs would be much less if the town withdrew from the district and paid the district tuition for each student.
The district is currently working with Buckfield, which is working its way through a possible withdrawal. The Buckfield Withdrawal Committee has devised two possible plans for educating its students, if final approval is granted by residents early next year.
Sumner residents turned down a plan to withdraw from the district.
A few months ago, the Dixfield Withdrawal Committee abandoned an attempt to withdraw from RSU 10 after it was assured that Dirigo High School in Dixfield would continue as a high school for at least a decade.
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