BYRON — The high per-pupil cost of educating local children in RSU 10 schools led to the town’s Nov. 8 vote to withdraw from the school district, Town Clerk Allison Freeman said Tuesday.
“Originally, it was a concern about the way the town gets billed per student,” she said. “It’s just not fair that we’re paying $25,000 to $30,000 per student when we’ve got Rumford and Mexico, that pay about $3,000 because that’s how it figures out with their tax base.”
Of the seven to 10 school-age children living in Byron, five were home-schooled, but the town was billed for all of its students, Freeman said.
The towns of Dixfield, Canton, Carthage and Peru also withdrew from RSU 10 in November and voted to form their own district. The other seven towns in RSU 10 are Hanover, Buckfield, Sumner, Hartford, Mexico, Roxbury and Rumford.
Byron students will attend school as members of RSU 10 until June 30, the last day of the town’s contract with the district. The withdrawal date is July 1. A tuition contract with RSU 10 will take effect June 30.
“Once our contract goes into effect, students in Byron are allowed to attend RSU 10 (schools) and we will pay the state tuition rate, about $9,300 per pupil,” Freeman said.
Three school board members elected to the new Byron Municipal School Unit are Judith Boucher, for a three-year term; Jennifer Bolduc, a two-year term; and Bruce Simmons, a one-year term. Boucher is currently a member of the RSU 10 school board.
Also effective as of June 30, Byron’s new MSU will hire a superintendent and a special education director, Freeman said.
mhutchinson@sunmediagroup.net
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