RUMFORD – A majority of Rumford selectmen signed a SAD 43 warrant late Friday, averting possible legal action by the district.
A nonbinding advisory question will now go before voters on June 14, asking them whether they want to continue to use of Virginia Elementary School as a place for educating pupils in kindergarten through fifth grade at an additional annual cost to district taxpayers of $150,000.
At Thursday’s selectmen’s meeting, only Selectman Jolene Lovejoy voted to sign the warrant. The remaining four did not.
Lovejoy said Jennifer Kreckel, the town’s lawyer, informed several of the selectmen Friday afternoon that state law requires selectmen to sign school district warrants.
Besides Lovejoy’s signature, Selectmen Jim Rinaldo and Bob Bradley signed the document by 7:15 p.m. Friday.
Before that happened, SAD 43 Superintendent Jim Hodgkin, Chairwoman Linda Westleigh and Vice Chairman Michael Papsadora had set a special meeting for Sunday night to pursue legal action involving an injunction to require signing of the document.
“I’m grateful that selectmen decided to follow the law,” said Hodgkin early Friday evening.
At issue is a petition presented by some parents of Virginia Elementary School pupils asking that the school continue offering education for pupils in kindergarten to fifth grade. The petition question did not state the estimated savings to the district.
Also, Hodgkin said the board has the legal right to determine the use of district buildings and where youngsters will be assigned.
In January, the board voted to end the use of Virginia school as an elementary facility and to use the 50-year-old building for the district’s Day Treatment Program for special needs children. About 15 students in kindergarten through grade 12 are expected to begin classes there in the fall.
The 110 Virginia elementary students are in the process of being reassigned to either Rumford Elementary School or Meroby Elementary School.
“We did not have to put this on the ballot. We decided to put it before the public because we don’t know if the entire community (the district’s four towns) wants to keep the school as an elementary school at the extra cost,” he said.
The vote will not be binding, but will instead provide the board with additional information, he said.
“We went beyond what we had to do (by putting it before voters),” Westleigh said.
Town Manager Steve Eldridge said his original recommendation was that the use of the school was not a municipal issue. “The town does not have jurisdiction over the school,” he said.
Lovejoy said it was her duty as a selectman to sign the warrant.
“It’s my legal responsibility to sign it whether I agree or not. The taxpayers of Rumford need to know the financial impact. (The question) can’t just tell half the story,” she said.
The Virginia school issue has come up several times in recent years as the pupil population has dwindled. A survey of the district’s two other elementary schools has shown that sufficient space is available for these pupils.
Parents of Virginia school children have argued that educating their youngsters in the small, neighborhood school provides a more caring atmosphere.
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