DIXFIELD — Dozens of residents heard from the Dixfield representative of an ad-hoc withdrawal committee and a Belfast lawyer Thursday night on whether to fund a withdrawal effort from Regional School Unit 10.
For the past month, residents from the former School Administrative District 21 towns of Dixfield, Canton, Peru and Carthage circulated petitions asking for a vote to form a four-member committee in each town to work on withdrawal negotiations and to appropriate money to fund the cost of negotiations, research and analysis of withdrawal agreements.
The article asks for residents to approve $50,000 from surplus.
The Peru and Canton petitions asked for $10,000 each, while the Carthage petition asked for $8,000.
At the start of the meeting, Barry Prescott, the Dixfield representative for the ad-hoc withdrawal committee, gave an overview of the withdrawal process to date, including what prompted residents from each town to pursue it.
Prescott said that after a March 16 public forum at Dirigo High School, where RSU 10 discussed three options for using the district’s buildings, there was “a considerable amount of concern among Dirigo community members.
“Some of us organized another public hearing on March 21 to discuss our options,” Prescott said. “Over 40 people showed up, and there was an overwhelming agreement that moving forward with the withdrawal process was our best option.”
An ad-hoc committee made up of residents from each of the four towns was formed, and Prescott said that while committee members and volunteers circulated petitions, they also met several times to research state statutes and possible impacts that withdrawal would have for Dirigo communities.
“We had a Skype conversation with lawyer Kristen Collins, who has negotiated withdrawals in other towns similar to what we’re trying to do here,” Prescott said. “She acted as a sounding board to make sure we’re proceeding in the right direction and to keep us on track.”
After Prescott finished speaking, he invited Collins to explain what the withdrawal process may look like for the four towns.
Collins, who also serves as a lawyer in Belfast, said she helped Belfast and other towns in the former SAD 34 withdraw from their district and form another.
“I’ve been involved with that community twice with withdrawal, and I helped with individual town withdrawals for the towns of Northport and St. George,” Collins said. “The reason I was brought here tonight was to explain the process, because what Dixfield and the three other towns are trying to do is similar to what we did in Belfast.”
Collins said that in 2007, when school reorganization laws were passed, “many communities felt like they were forced to consolidate into RSUs to avoid financial penalties imposed by the law.
“Some towns, like Camden and other southern Maine towns, stuck it out, and lo and behold, after two or three years, they started rolling back the statute,” she said. “They stopped forcing reorganization, and by the time they rolled back the statute, many towns had already joined together. In some cases, it worked great, but in other cases, it’s been less successful.”
Collins said if Dixfield and the other three towns were to approve the withdrawal process at their respective town meetings, each town would form a four-person committee, consisting of one selectman, one petitioner, one resident and one member from the RSU 10 board.
“It’s an interesting dynamic, since there will be at least one or two people on the committee that aren’t gung-ho about the idea of withdrawal,” Collins said. “It’s a good balance. Out of the 16 total committee members between the four towns, there’s sure to be a few people with differing opinions, which makes for a good exercise.”
Even if Dixfield were to approve the appropriation of $50,000 from surplus to move forward with the withdrawal process, Collins said that “all four towns would have to move forward together.
“It’s do or die,” Collins said. “If any of the four towns vote that they don’t want to withdraw, the whole thing goes away. It may be possible to look into other options, but this is the way that seems to work best.”
Resident Jen Holmes said she was extremely concerned with “the amount of work that has be done on Mountain Valley High School.”
“I think we need to keep in mind that it will likely cost millions of dollars to completely repair those schools,” Holmes said. “That much was clear at the public forums that RSU 10 held.”
Resident Melanie Prescott said, “The fact of the matter is that, for me, money isn’t as important as the well-being of my children.”
“I’d rather our taxes go up a little bit and allow my children to have a great education,” she said.
Residents will vote on whether to approve the article at the June 9 referendum ballot.
Carthage and Peru will decide June 9, while Canton will decide at its annual town meeting on June 11.
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