Residents discuss benefits and drawbacks of leaving RSU 21
Arundel residents met to discuss possible benefits and repercussions
of passing a petition that will allow the town to withdraw from Regional
School Unit 21.
For two and half hours, the board and approximately 90 members of the
public listened to various opinions from Arundel residents about
whether the withdrawal petition should pass.
Those in favor of the petition and who want Arundel to leave the
district said the petition will help save on overall costs and regain
control of spending. Those in opposition of the petition are worried
education will falter if Arundel severs ties with the district. RSU 21
consists of Arundel, Kennebunk and Kennebunkport.
On April 10, Arundel residents will have the opportunity to vote on
whether they will ultimately leave the district. According to Rep. Wayne
Parry of District 140, Arundel only needs 50 percent plus one vote to
either pass or oppose the petition because of a recent law change that
adjusted the ratio from a two-thirds majority to simple majority vote.
District 140 is made up of Arundel, Dayton, part of Kennebunk and part
of Lyman.
“It is 50 percent plus one, but you need a minimum of 50 percent of
(people who voted in) the last gubernatorial election to come and vote,”
said Parry, adding that the statute prevents a small number of voters
from deciding major decisions in the town.
“There will have to be approximately 950 people turn out to vote in
favor,” said Arundel Town Manager Todd Shea, when asked by a member of
the public exactly how many votes would be needed.
If the petition passes, it would allow municipal officers to use no
more than $35,000 to form a withdrawal committee designed to explore
future education options with the help of unbiased advisors. The
withdrawal committee would consist of one municipal officer, one member
of the public and one member from those who initially filed the
petition, Shea said.
The voting information in this article is wrong. On Tuesday April 10th the question will be decide by a simple majority of who ever votes. The second vote which is necessary to complete withdrawal, which may occur in November will also be by a simple majority vote, however, there needs to be 50% turnout of the number that voted in the last gubernatorial election. That means that approximately 950 voters will need to turn out for the second vote.
ReplyDeleteWayne Parry should have disclosed that he's a supporter of withdrawal when the question was asked around who attended the meeting that most folks seemed pretty confused about; apparently there were only 30 people in attendance at the meeting, so the 'word of mouth' part either isn't working, or there are far fewer people who are involved in this process than they'd like to let on.
ReplyDeleteIn any event, a public figure shouldn't be scheming on closed facebook groups or unadvertised meetings as to how to withdraw from the RSU, when the questions asked at the meeting haven't been answered. Most specifically, how much is it going to cost us to withdraw?
Dana Peck was comfortable with saying that $35,000 was the cap right now, but if he were convinced that we needed to spend more to 'make sure we get the right answers', that it could cost the town more than that, but wasn't able to give a figure that he'd stop at in order to get that answer.
Could it cost double? Triple? Quadruple? No one knows. No one cares to investigate what it will cost, either, because they're in a hurry to push a vote to withdraw, and *then* do their homework.
Arundel, we're doing it wrong. Kennebunkport researched before getting a group together to vote on whether or not to withdraw. After discovering the economic impact on the town, they realized it's not worth pursuing.
Why couldn't we have done this?
What is it that this group of 30 people is so afraid of? Taxes? Well, you shot yourselves in the foot by voting down the cost sharing item, as well as keeping the town budget flat for three years. My taxes went *up*, not down, as a result of that uninformed 'no' vote.
I hope that this group of 30 understands that there are pretty hefty consequences if they manage to convince enough people to vote 'yes' to moving forward, the least of which is the cost to explore options. The amount of money that will be spent to maintain a solo district, and our property taxes.
What do you think the odds are of our taxes increasing exponentially each year, if we run our own school?
Or, group of 30, was a TA rep in the room selling you the dream of contracting out the entire K-12 education experience?
Don't sell our town down the river - vote 'no' on April 10.
I am voting yes to get the real answers and to end the mayhem in the town.
ReplyDeleteA YES vote is to proceed with the withdrawal process...NOT just for a study...be VERY CLEAR On that because the yes crew is trying to say it ONLY IS TO GET THE STUDY DONE...it isn't...it is a VOTE TO START THE WITHDRAWAL PROCESS.....
ReplyDeleteThis is QUOTED by TOdd Shae town manager at the MARCH 26th Meeting...If you haven't listened...please do it is on the town website.
NO means keep our money in Arundel and stay the way it is.
There is some confusion here, only Arundel will decide how much we spend on education after withdrawal, all the studies in the world won't tell you that. What we do know is the renovation plan, approved by the school board is going to cost Arundel $11, 000,000 over twenty years. The first payment will be $660,000 in one year and it drops each year until year 20 around $430,000. Where is the town going to cut money from to renovate a high school our kids don't seem to want to attend. The answer from Mr. Peck is close the Fire Dept. P.S. it won't cover it! He has support from another known RSU 21 supporter. Do you know what happens to your home owners insurance if that happens? Arundel will save $5.6 million dollars over 20 years if we withdraw and fix our own school. That's a lot of money toward educating our kids that won't be wasted on someone else's high school. That figure comes from Andrew Dolloff, in case you want to question it! Also, the petition started the withdrawal process, the vote moves it to the next step, which according to the law has nothing to do with any studies, that's optional. Sorry, truth.
ReplyDelete