The Westport Island Ad-hoc RSU 12 Withdrawal Committee has received word that a town vote to terminate the process of withdrawing from Sheepscot Valley Regional School Unit 12 would be legal.
The committee had sought legal advice whether the process could be terminated before voters could consider the actual withdrawal question.
According to withdrawal committee Chairman Gerald Bodmer, the committee will consider this option at their next meeting tentatively scheduled for Monday, April 7, at 10 a.m.
According to Westport Island town attorney William Dale, there are no statutes or court cases directly on this issue, but after reviewing related matters of law, in Dale’s opinion, because there is no law prohibiting such a termination, it would be permissible for the board of selectmen to put such a referendum question before the voters. If approved it would be legally effective. The voting would require a simple majority of those voting.
Should the withdrawal committee and the selectmen agree to put this referendum question before the voters in June, a yes vote would stop the process and Westport Island would remain a member of RSU 12. If the referendum is defeated, the withdrawal process could continue and come back before the voters, if and when, the withdrawal committee and RSU 12 reach an agreement and that agreement is approved by the Maine Commissioner of Education.
Dale also included a sample wording for a referendum question, “Shall the Westport Island School Withdrawal Committee formally terminate the Sheepscot Valley RSU 12 withdrawal process before submitting the question to the electorate for a final vote?”
“I am not saying we are going to do this, but it is something that we need to discuss,” Bodmer said.
On June 12, 2012, Westport Island citizens voted 152-70 in favor of beginning the withdrawal process from Sheepscot Valley RSU 12. Westport Island, along with Alna, Chelsea, Wiscasset, Palermo, Somerville, Windsor, and Whitefield, has been a member of RSU 12 since 2009.
Wiscasset voted to withdraw from RSU 12 this past November, and will become a standalone school system as of July 1.
Palermo, and Windsor also have begun the withdrawal process of withdrawing from RSU 12.
The withdrawal committee continues to work with the Ad-hoc RSU negotiation committee to work out a withdrawal agreement, as well as with the Wiscasset School Board for a commitment for Wiscasset to accept Westport Island students.
