WEST BATH, Maine — By a margin of nearly 5-1 Tuesday, West Bath voters approved withdrawal from Regional School Unit 1, which the town helped form in 2008.
Residents voted 468-97 in favor of leaving the district, the town reported.
Not only was a majority needed for the vote to succeed, it also required enough people to vote, and just barely exceeded that threshold.
A minimum voter turnout of 50 percent of the total ballots cast in the gubernatorial election last November – 560 votes – was necessary for the referendum to be valid; 565 votes were cast, Selectman Peter Oceretko said. The withdrawal initiative’s success required a simple majority of votes: 50 percent plus one.
“I’m glad it’s over with; I’m glad we got our voter threshold,” Oceretko, co-chairman of the town’s Withdrawal Committee, said Tuesday night. “… I’m glad that we’re withdrawing, but actually the hard work starts tomorrow. So we’re still looking at about three months’ worth of a lot of work.”
“The withdrawal process was difficult, but it was conducted in a professional and courteous manner,” RSU 1 Superintendent Patrick Manuel said in an email Tuesday night. “RSU 1 has enjoyed working with the staff, students, and parents affiliated with the West Bath School, and we will miss this educational partnership. In addition, the RSU would like to thank West Bath community members for their support and involvement over the last seven years.
“We wish the West Bath School and the town of West Bath all the best in the future as they form their new school administrative unit,” Manuel added.
A three-member transition committee will now be formed. The panel will plan new school administration, develop a budget, and schedule a special election to establish a new school board.
West Bath’s final day in RSU 1 will be June 30. Students from the town can continue to attend their own school, which serves kindergarten through fifth grade. For the first year following withdrawal, West Bath students will be able to attend the RSU 1 school they would have gone to if the town were still in the district.
After that, students from West Bath “may choose to attend any middle or secondary school that suits their educational goals or desires at which they are accepted,” according to the withdrawal agreement, which the state approved in December.
RSU 1 has agreed to accept middle and high school pupils from West Bath as tuition students for 10 years after withdrawal. At that point, in 2025, a new agreement would have to be negotiated, RSU 1 Superintendent Patrick Manuel has said.
Tuition to RSU 1 is determined each year by a state-set formula.
The Withdrawal Committee had Planning Decisions, a Portland-based firm, determine the possible impact seceding from RSU 1 would have on West Bath’s budget, without changes in how the town’s elementary school operates. The town could save about $398,000, cutting its education budget by 14 percent, the committee estimated.
West Bath voted 185-64 in January 2014 to initiate the process of withdrawing from RSU 1, which the town established with Bath, Arrowsic, Phippsburg and Woolwich.
West Bath sued RSU 1 and member city Bath in 2012 to recover $1.9 million the town believed it overpaid in the first four years of the school district’s existence. The case was settled last month after the Bath City Council approved paying West Bath $1.2 million.
The insurance carrier for RSU 1 also agreed to pay West Bath $50,000.