The Regional School Unit 10 Withdrawal Committee and the towns of Buckfield, Hartford and Sumner have until June 30 to finalize a plan for withdrawal from the district, according to Superintendent Deb Alden.
The other RSU 10 towns are Rumford, Mexico, Roxbury and Hanover.
The Nezinscot region towns of Buckfield, Hartford and Sumner have submitted a proposal to the district’s committee and attorney, Alden said May 29.
“If we can come to an agreement that both parties accept the withdrawal agreement, and if we can do it before June 30, those three towns can put it on their ballot for Nov. 3,” she said.
Alden said the committees are negotiating the details. Once it’s hashed out, “then they send it to the Maine Department of Education, and if it’s all set by June 30, they can get on their ballot for Nov. 3.”
The board of directors will discuss the proposal at its June 15 meeting, Alden said, “unless it’s not totally done and then we’d have to have a special school board meeting.”
Last November, voters in Buckfield, Hartford and Sumner passed the initial referendum to start the withdrawal. Buckfield and Sumner supported the measure decisively, while Hartford residents passed it narrowly.
The group is in the early phases of the 22-step process governed by Maine law. This requires forming a withdrawal committee, conducting research on a new school district budget, and eventually negotiating an agreement for the division of assets and liabilities.
K-12 students in Buckfield, Hartford and Sumner attend Hartford-Sumner Elementary School in Sumner and Buckfield Junior-Senior High School under the RSU 10 umbrella.
For updates, meeting schedules and committee minutes, visit the town of Buckfield RSU 10 Withdrawal Committee online. The Maine Department of Education details legal and financial requirements of the process on its website.
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