While late spring typically marks the time when Maine residents vote to approve their school budgets for the next year, some communities are facing a bigger question: whether to exit their district altogether.
As school costs and property taxes increase, some towns are weighing the option to withdraw from their school districts to either form their own local district or send students to another district through a tuition agreement. Those who support withdrawal believe it could save towns money and increase local control over education decisions; those against it believe it would undercut school budgets and could have bad consequences for students.
The Franklin County towns of Strong and Phillips voted in May to send letters of intent to leave MSAD 58. Nearby Embden, which is in RSU 74, will vote on whether to start the same process on June 10.
According to the Maine Department of Education, “changing the makeup of a school administrative unit has serious implications for the education of students residing in the unit and for the citizens, both local and statewide, who provide support for the unit. For this reason, the process of withdrawal is complex with necessary involvement of many parties.”
Here’s a look at how the withdrawal process works and what options towns have should they choose to pursue it.
The process
A town that wants to withdraw from its school district must follow a series of 22 steps.
It starts with residents collecting signatures for a petition, then holding a vote to create a formal withdrawal committee. Residents must vote on whether they want to start the withdrawal process as well as authorize the withdrawal committee to spend a certain amount on legal fees and other associated costs.
Once a formal withdrawal committee is established, the town starts negotiating with the school district to create a withdrawal agreement, which is a legal document that lays out how students will be educated and how the town and district will split assets — similar to a divorce agreement.
Once a withdrawal agreement is finalized and approved by the state education commissioner, a date is set for the final vote, where residents decide whether to withdraw or remain in the school district.
Costs
During the initial vote, a town must state how much it plans to raise for legal fees and other costs associated with the withdrawal process.
The Maine Department of Education does not track the costs that towns accrue during the withdrawal process since these decisions are local.
Phillips, which narrowly voted to start the withdrawal process, allocated $50,000. Embden also aims to spend up to $50,000 if residents choose to continue the process.
This amount is for the cost of the withdrawal process itself, which includes fact finding and retaining legal counsel. The ultimate cost of withdrawal — and whether it ends up amounting to fewer school costs for the town — depends on a number of different factors, including whether a town chooses to operate its own school or send students to another district on tuition.
Timeline
The withdrawal process can take between one and two years.
Residents must vote on the final step by November 30 of the year before the town hopes to withdraw.
That deadline is in place so the state can calculate funding for its Essential Programs and Services (EPS) model, which determines state and local shares of education funding. The state releases EPS funding calculations early each year for school budgets.
Outcomes
The withdrawal agreement must specify how the town plans to continue educating children who live in the community. It can do so either in schools operated by the town or through tuition agreements where the town pays for students to attend schools in another district, including the one from which it withdrew.
In the first year after withdrawal, students must be able to continue attending the same school they were attending before withdrawal.
The withdrawing town must create a new school administrative unit, with a school board, superintendent and budget, even if it does not plan to run a school. The agreement must outline how the town plans to do this, as well as how it plans to take on recordkeeping and reporting obligations.
The agreement needs a five-year projection of the town’s K-12 students and, if the town plans to run a school, how many will attend along with instruction plans, including staffing plans or whether multiple grades will be taught in one classroom.
For any grades not served by a school in a withdrawn town, the agreement must specify the plans for students attending schools in other districts, including tuition agreements with school districts for at least the next decade and the estimated cost per student.
The agreement must also describe plans to provide necessary transportation services for all students.
