FREEPORT – The Board of Directors of the newly consolidated Regional School Unit 5, of Durham, Freeport and Pownal, hosted a joint meeting of municipal and school officials with state Commissioner of Education Susan Gendron on Monday night.

The meeting was called in an effort to find a resolution to the budget challenges facing the RSU.

Gendron told the audience she did not have the authorization to delay the implementation date of the RSU, something that had been suggested by some residents at the previous meeting.

Current law, she said, requires the system to be operational by July 1. In a meeting with Assistant Attorney General Sarah Forster, it was confirmed that if the RSU is not operational by July 1, the three towns will not have a legal vehicle to operate or levy taxes for public education.

In an effort to help the RSU, Gendron suggested that the SAD 62 (Pownal) and the Freeport Town Council consider a waiver of the tuition premium currently paid for Pownal students tuitioned to Freeport High School. The premium, approximately $45,000, is part of a tuition contract between Pownal and Freeport for funding the debt on Freeport High School. A waiver would enable Pownal to use the $45,000 to offset the tax impact of the proposed 2009-10 budget, she said.

Gendron offered to provide a facilitator to help the RSU Board look at the cost-sharing and debt-sharing agreement in the current plan.

RSU Board Chairman Laurie Poissonnier agreed to look at numbers. But any proposed changes to the reorganization plan would require approval in a referendum vote by a combined majority of the voters in Durham, Freeport and Pownal.

Following an in-depth discussion of options and legal implications, Poissonnier summarized the following steps:

• The RSU board will move forward on budget deliberations to have an approved budget prior to July 1. The board will review the budget in detail at their meeting on Wednesday, May 27, in the Freeport High School cafeteria.

• Gendron will investigate drafting emergency legislation authorizing the use of Pownal’s 2009 state valuation by effectively smoothing the one-year spike in valuation.

• The SAD 62 Pownal Board and Freeport Town Council will consider meeting to discuss the possible waiver on the tuition premium currently paid to Freeport High School.

• The RSU Board may consider utilizing a state-funded facilitator to help the RSU look at the cost-sharing and debt-sharing agreements. The board may consider whether to renegotiate the cost-sharing or debt-sharing agreement.

• The Legislature will consider releasing penalty funds following the referendum vote in November on the repeal of the consolidation law.

The RSU encourages citizens of the three towns to attend the following budget meetings. The revised upcoming dates in the budget process are:

• May 27, continue deliberation on budget articles.

• June 3, special meeting for a final Board vote on the budget.

• June 16, annual budget meeting. At this meeting, registered voters of all three towns will deliberate on the budget approved by the board and vote on an article-by-article basis with the option of proposing changes through amendments on each article. The meeting will not end until a simple majority approves a budget to send to a referendum vote.

• June 25, the budget validation referendum. Voters of all three towns will vote either yes or no on the budget approved at the annual budget meeting. A simple combined majority of the voters in the three towns is needed. If voters reject the budget, the board will need to reconsider the budget and work through both the annual budget meeting and budget validation referendum process until the voters approve a budget. If a final budget is not approved until after July 1 the most recent budget approved by the RSU Board will be in effect until the voters approve a final budget.

The board has created a form to capture feedback from citizens about each budget article. This feedback will be distributed to all board members by e-mail and will be considered as the group moves through the budget approval process.