The communities of Buckfield, Hartford and Sumner, which form the Nezinscot Region, voted Tuesday to support filing a petition for withdrawal from Regional School Unit 10.
The total vote was 920 to 609.
Buckfield and Sumner voters were largely in favor of withdrawal, voting 463-283 and 249-129, respectively.
Hartford residents were much more evenly divided, narrowly passing the question, 208-197.
The three towns have their own community elementary and secondary schools but belong to RSU 10, headquartered 30 miles away in Rumford.
Neal Austin, who was chairman of the ad hoc committee, said the withdrawal is a 22-step process. He said they’re on the first step.
He said it was necessary for all three towns to vote in favor of withdrawal in order to move on to step two, which is hiring a lawyer to walk them through all the steps.
“And at any point in time before we submit the final 22nd step … to send the information to the commissioner, we can vote to stop the withdrawal process,” said Austin.
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