FREEPORT – The Regional School Unit 5 Board of Directors will convene a special meeting on Wednesday, July 30, with a November vote on Freeport’s withdrawal from RSU 5 hanging in the balance.

And even if the board approves a withdrawal agreement, according to a Maine Department of Education official, a November vote might be a stretch.

“Even agreeing then and giving us time to review it is cutting it really close,” said Paula Gravelle, school finances coordinator who is dealing with withdrawal issues for the Department of Education. “There are other deadlines that have to be met. We can’t turn it around in a day. We’ve got other withdrawal issues on the table, as well. This is putting a lot of stress on our end.”

Gravelle shared a withdrawal referendum timeline for the Nov. 4 ballot that she has sent to all towns considering the issue. The original deadline for an agreement to be sent to Commissioner Jim Rier was June 30, but Freeport and RSU 5 have been granted an extension, as is commonplace.

The original date for Rier to provide conditional approval of a withdrawal agreement was July 30 – the date of the RSU 5 meeting – with a minimum of 20 days to set an Aug. 19 public hearing date. The school unit and the town need to submit results of the public hearing to the commissioner for approval and possible changes by Sept. 16.

In a letter to the Freeport and RSU 5 parties dated June 18, Gravelle also informed them of an important change in the law.

“Another issue that has come to my attention lately, is that many towns in the withdrawal process are not aware of the change in law that resulted from the last legislative session,” she wrote. “The section of 1466 that requires the total number of votes cast for and against withdrawal at the municipal vote must equal or exceed 50 percent of the total number of votes cast for governor in the last gubernatorial election – was set to revert back to a two-thirds majority vote on Jan. 1, 2015. However that has been changed and is now remaining at the 50 percent requirement indefinitely. So, if you were purposely waiting until after Jan. 1, 2015 to avoid the 50 percent voter turnout requirement, that is not an option anymore.”

There is an even smaller chance for a Freeport withdrawal vote in November if the school board does not reach an accord on July 30. And considering that the Withdrawal Committee and the RSU 5 Working Group have not come together on the cost of tuition for Durham and Pownal students to attend Freeport High School, or the capacity of the school, such an accord seems unlikely.

Peter Murray, Withdrawal Committee chairman, addressed the issue during a July 15 workshop with the Freeport Town Council.

“The difficult thing about this with the law is whether it provides for withdrawal by mutual consent,” Murray told the council. “In this case, the RSU can ask for whatever it wants, and there’s no deal.”

Murray reported that the two sides are in agreement on 10 of the 11 statutory steps needed for the commissioner to consider withdrawal. But the last three meetings have not been productive, he said.

“The high school is operating over capacity,” he said. “We’re hung up on the enrollment commitment piece.”

Michelle Ritcheson, chairwoman of the Working Group, said that the group originally proposed paying the maximum allowable tuition, as determined by the state, which now amounts to $9,209 per student. The Withdrawal Committee wanted RSU 5 to pay the actual cost, which is $10,495 – a difference of $1,200. A total of 185 students from Durham and Pownal attended Freeport High School last year, she said.

On July 9, the Working Group agreed on paying actual cost, but with a regulator on growth. The regulator would limit any increase in tuition to 2.5 percent per year, Ritcheson said.

“It’s a cap,” Ritcheson said. “They didn’t want the regulator on growth. That’s where we are.”

Murray, who is also an RSU 5 board member, outlined the following tuition agreement to be considered during the July 30 board meeting:

• RSU 5 would have the right to send students (to Freeport High) up to a total enrollment of 450.

• Students enrolled in Freeport schools and Freeport resident students will have priority access to seats at Freeport High.

• Freeport Middle School will act as School of Guaranteed Acceptance for Pownal students in grades 6-8.

• RSU 5/Freeport will estimate enrollments in January and commit to enrollments by March 1.

• RSU 5 commits to pay tuition for the number of students committed on March 1 or 60 students, whichever is greater.

• Tuition is set at state’s calculation of Freeport High-only per-student costs in the previous year (already less than true actual cost).

• RSU 5 will pay a pro-rated share of new debt incurred at Freeport High.

If an agreement is not reached in time to accommodate a November vote, Murray said, the Withdrawal Committee will request an extension and will “explore legal options.”