The Freeport Withdrawal Committee, hoping for approval of a withdrawal agreement with Regional School Unit 5 at an RSU 5 board meeting this week, has made its “best and final offer.”
The RSU 5 board meets at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. July 30, at Freeport High School. Following public comments, a vote on withdrawal is on the agenda.
Peter Murray, chairman of the Withdrawal Committee and a school board member, as well, said Friday that unless the board votes in favor of the proposal, a final Freeport referendum on the issue will not be possible by Nov. 4, when the general elections are held.
“We (the Withdrawal Committee) met Thursday night and finalized an attempt to get an agreement in time for a November vote,” Murray said. “It’s a best and final offer.”
Board Chairman Nelson Larkins of Freeport wrote in an email last Saturday that he was away, and could not respond to a request to comment on the Withdrawal Committee offer. Michelle Ritcheston of Durham, chairwoman of the RSU 5 Working Group, which is negotiating on behalf of RSU 5 with the Withdrawal Committee, said Monday that the Working Group and the Withdrawal Committee have not reached an accord on the latest Withdrawal Committee offer.
The Withdrawal Committee is going straight to the full board with a proposal “that has not been agreed to,” she said.
The Maine Department of Education has informed both parties that, even if an agreement is reached on Wednesday night, it will be tight getting the matter on the November ballot. Education Commissioner Jim Rier must review it, make changes he deems necessary, the parties must agree again, a public hearing must be scheduled and notices posted.
Murray said that the Withdrawal Committee decided during last Thursday night’s meeting to compromise on the matters of the tuition it would charge for Pownal and Durham students to attend Freeport schools, and on how many students Freeport could accept at Freeport High. The committee emailed the proposal to school board members on Friday.
“In an effort to finalize an agreement in time for a November vote, the attached agreement embodies significant compromise on the part of Freeport in an effort to ‘bridge the gap,’” Murray wrote in the email. “This agreement does not represent a ‘victory’ for Freeport. Members of our committee have strong feelings regarding the flexibility this agreement removes from the Freeport (school administrative unit) over the next decade in order to provide substantive discounts and other benefits to our neighbors. However, kids are kids regardless of which town they may grow up in and all Maine kids should have access to the best possible public education.”
Murray went on to write that the Withdrawal Committee has “acquiesced” to the request of the RSU Working Group that a tuition contract be included as part of the withdrawal agreement.
The Withdrawal Committee is agreeing to a capacity figure of 500 at Freeport High School – 50 more than its last offer. The committee also proposes a midpoint between the maximum allowable tuition as determined by the state and the “state actual,” which is greater, if RSU 5 agrees to commit to at least 60 students. Originally, the Withdrawal Committee wanted RSU 5 to pay the actual cost. The maximum allowable tuition is $9209 per student and the actual cost is $10,495 per student.
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