RUMFORD — A public hearing will be held Tuesday, Aug. 18, for voters to weigh in on the conditional agreement for Buckfield, Hartford and Summer to withdraw from Regional School Unit 10.
The hearing will be held at 6 p.m. at the Buckfield Junior-Senior High School cafeteria, 160 Morrill St. It will also be livestreamed online.
The Rumford-based school board approved the hearing July 27, their first meeting with new Superintendent Matt Gilbert, who has worked for the district for 26 years.
“This is a forum that we’re required to share the withdrawal agreement we have with the three towns,” Gilbert said. “There won’t be any new information presented (at the hearing). It’s also the same withdrawal plan for all three communities.”
After the plan is presented, there will be an opportunity for the public to speak and ask questions.
Gilbert said the vote scheduled for Nov. 3 will require all three Nezinscot Region communities to vote in favor of the withdrawal, not just the majority of the three.
“That was at the discretion of the withdrawal committees when they formed together that that was the way that they would proceed,” Gilbert said. “Everybody has to be in favor of it, and if there’s one dissenting community, then it won’t pass.”
Gilbert said that only the Nezinscot Region towns of Buckfield, Hartford and Summer will vote on the withdrawal question, not Rumford, Mexico, Hanover and Roxbury, the other district towns.
“We don’t know what the turnout will be. We’re hoping people turn out and ask questions about the withdrawal,” Gilbert said.
Gilbert stressed that the administration’s job is not to promote or discourage the withdrawal, but rather to make sure people are informed.
“That’s our job,” he said. “So, it’s really important that people come out to see and hear what the conditions are that they would be voting on, if they wanted to withdraw or wanted to stay with the RSU.”
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