ST. GEORGE, Maine — Residents elected their own school board Tuesday night, and the five members will get right to work.
Residents elected Jennifer Garrett, Sherman Hoyt, Margot Kelley, Terence Driscoll and William Reinhardt. They will be sworn into office on Wednesday.
The town voted last month 1,163-226 to withdraw from the Rockland-area district. The withdrawal takes effect July 1, 2015.
Garrett’s term expires June 30, 2015. Hoyt’s and Driscoll’s terms will run through June 30, 2016. Driscoll defeated Frederick Bernard, 190 to 23. Hoyt defeated Angela Vachon, 118 to 100.
Kelley’s and Reinhardt’s terms will run through June 30, 2017.
St. George plans to operate its own kindergarten through eighth-grade school at the St. George School. Ninth- through 12th-graders would be tuitioned to other area high schools. The withdrawal agreement the town reached with Regional School Unit 13 calls for the district to accept St. George high school students. The Five-Town Community School district also agreed to accept 15 to 25 St. George students to attend Camden Hills Regional High School in Rockport, and RSU 40 has agreed to have St. George students attend Medomak Valley High School in Waldoboro.
St. George has about 100 students enrolled in grades eight through 12, with the eighth- and ninth-graders attending Oceanside West High School in Thomaston. The 10th- through 12th-graders attend Oceanside East High School in Rockland.
RSU 13 Superintendent John McDonald said he expects the majority of the St. George students who attended Oceanside high schools to remain with the RSU 13 schools.