ROBBINSTON, Maine — Voters chose to authorize the closing of the Robbinston Grade School during a referendum Wednesday.
A total of 273 voters came to the polls, Town Clerk Cathy Footer said Wednesday night. Of those, 149 voted to close the school and 124 opposed.
With school starting Sept. 2, the vote gives parents less than two weeks to determine where their children will attend classes this fall.
The board of the Independent School Department, which oversees the Robbinston school, voted 2-1 on July 1 to close the kindergarten through eighth-grade school, according to Interim Superintendent Ray Freve, interviewed for a previous article.
Freve was at a conference and unavailable for further comment Aug. 20.
A petition signed by at least 28 people, representing 10 percent of the number of Robbinston residents who voted in the last gubernatorial election, was submitted July 27 in an effort to overturn the school board’s decision.
The petition triggered the referendum question. About 45 people from the community that, according to 2010 U.S. Census data has a population of 574, attended a public hearing about the referendum on Aug. 5.
Parent Abbie Rohde, a member of the Friends of Robbinston Grade School, which fought to keep the school open, said Wednesday night she was “disappointed.”
The school department has arranged for Robbinston students to go to school in Calais. Transportation will be provided only to students who are sent to Calais. Parents who choose to send their children elsewhere will have to make their own arrangements.
Rohde said her daughter, Meadow, 7, will to to Charlotte Elementary School in Charlotte.
“There’s not overwhelming support to send our kids to Calais,” she said. “It’s very different from the small school experience.”
Although she was unhappy with how the vote turned out, Rohde said she was glad to see such a high voter turnout, calling the 273 voters “a really astronomical number for Robbinston.
“If nothing else, we got people to become part of the process,” she said.