WEST BATH
Members of West Bath’s Regional School Unit 1 Withdrawal Committee met with representatives of the RSU on Monday as part of a series of meetings to discuss the terms of a withdrawal agreement.
The West Bath committee was tasked with drafting a withdrawal agreement when residents voted 185- 64 to pursue withdrawal from the school unit at a Jan. 21 special Town Meeting. A four-member committee was formed and authorized by voters to use up to $40,000 to draft a withdrawal agreement.
At the meeting, the RSU representatives were presented with a draft withdrawal agreement and identified points of difference between the parties prior to negotiating the terms and language of the withdrawal agreement that will be presented to the Maine Department of Education for approval.
West Bath town administrator Jonathan Davis said the withdrawal committee is currently waiting for the RSU’s draft agreement.
“The biggest issue that’s built into here,” said Dick Spencer, an attorney with Drummond Woodsum repre- senting RSU 1, “is that West Bath needs a school unit to agree to take any student that wants to come for at least 10 years after withdrawal in grades 6-12 because they have their own K-5 school.”
The Maine DOE requires as part of the negotiations that a school of record be established in the withdrawal agreement, assuring continuity of education for students in a 10-year contract.
“It’s what the (DOE) calls a ‘school of record,’ but that’s really a misnomer. It’s a guaranteed placement for 10 years for any student that wants to go to a school system,” said Spencer. “The department won’t allow a withdrawal unless the withdrawing community has an absolute certain placement for each student for 10 years.”
In the preliminary withdrawal proposal, West Bath asks that the RSU be the school of record for students in grades 6-12, said Spencer, but noted that this could place a burden on the RSU as they would have to assure a placement for West Bath students without an assurance of what number would potentially tuition into the system.
“If you agree to that, you have to be sure that you have the room and the capacity to take all those kids, but you wouldn’t have any guarantee that any of those kids would come,” said Spencer.
The RSU 1 Committee is considering an amended proposal where they would agree to being the school of record in the agreement, provided West Bath agree to send 80 percent of their students in grades 6-12 to the RSU, or pay tuition up to 80 percent of West Bath students of those grades. This would allow West Bath to provide school choice to up to 20 percent of their students.
“The justification for that being that as the RSU staffs for an upcoming school year and as we get our facilities planning activities going forward,” said Stephen August, a member of the RSU 1 board of directors, “we would have some sense … of what our school population was going to be from year to year.”
An indication in August or September that either a number of students would not be returning to the RSU or that there would be a sudden influx of students “would be very difficult for the RSU to accommodate, just from a management perspective,” said August.
“The way I’ve written this,” said Spencer, referring to the draft amended proposal, “is that they wouldn’t have to send the kids but they would agree to pay that minimum amount of tuition, so if you need to plan … you would have some assurance that you would have the revenue from that number of students.”
The draft also includes that West Bath conduct a survey by March 1, and report to the RSU the number of students that indicate they plan on attending the RSU the following school year.
State legislation also requires that, for a year after a withdrawal, all students from the withdrawing municipality be permitted to attend the school that they would have attended had the withdrawal not taken place.
The cost of tuition for those students is not yet determined, with different proposed rates currently being considered.
Factors that will sway the final figure depend on the percentage of debt service to be included as the parties determine what portion of that is a financial obligation undertaken by the town of West Bath.
A withdrawal agreement must also establish how transportation services and system administration will be provided for the new school district, and disposition of real and personal property, among other items.
The West Bath withdrawal committee will meet next at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, June 18, at the West Bath town hall, located at 219 Foster’s Point Road, West Bath.
The RSU 1 board of directors will meet next at 6 p.m. on Monday, June 23, at Bath Middle School, located at 6 Old Brunswick Road, Bath.
THE WEST BATH committee was tasked with drafting a withdrawal agreement when residents voted 185-64 to pursue withdrawal from Regional School Unit 1 at a Jan. 21 special Town Meeting. A four-member committee was formed and authorized by voters to use up to $40,000 to draft a withdrawal agreement.
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