FREEPORT – Uncertainty might have played an important role in Freeport’s close decision last week to remain with Regional School Unit 5, residents contacted by Tri-Town Weekly say.

The margin was a mere 76 votes out of the 4,380 cast on the question, in which a yes vote would have meant withdrawal from RSU 5, which was created in 2009. Regardless of the margin, respondents are saying, those who voted against the measure probably were uncomfortable with the prospect of a stand-alone school district.

“I think it was uncertainty,” said Pat Palmer, who was principal of Freeport High School from 1989-1996. “We’ve been through the transition and seen the problems. On a general level, the feeling was, we have gone through the difficult times. Do we want to take away from educational issues again, to spend our time on transition?

“Both sides were saying, ‘Let’s create this phenomenal school system,’” Palmer said. “My hope is that we can all pull together now.”

Among other matters, proponents and opponents of withdrawal were at odds regarding the future enrollment of Freeport High School if withdrawal passed. Proponents said that students from Durham and Pownal would not defect to nearby high schools in great numbers, but those who wanted to stay with RSU 5 argued otherwise. Because the state aid to education is based partially on student enrollment, that became a serious argument leading up to the vote.

Either way, Palmer said, she was uncomfortable with the notion of recruiting students. Palmer has young grandchildren who will be going through the Freeport school system.

“My interest really was way out into the future,” Palmer said. “For me in the long term, the numbers stability was very uncertain. I was concerned about the population of a stand-alone high school.”

Kristina Egan was the only member of the Town Council who opposed withdrawal in a council sentiment last month. Egan, the council vice chairwoman, echoed Palmer’s observation.

“I think there was a lot of uncertainty about what withdrawal would mean to our kids,” Egan said. “When people are uncertain, they tend to vote no.”

Egan also feared that the cost of education would increase with withdrawal.

“From where I sit,” she said, “it’s clear that taxes would go up with withdrawal. And what we would get for that increase wasn’t clear.”

Egan said that a “silent majority” of sorts was at work. People who favored withdrawal circulated petitions a year ago, the residents voted in December to explore it, and the Town Council then formed the Withdrawal Committee.

“It’s remarkable that people who wanted to withdraw worked for a year, and opposition surfaced only in the last few weeks,” she said. “Many people didn’t want to come out with their feelings. There was a silent group who were skeptical about that effect of (withdrawal) on their kids.”

Egan added that many teachers who worked hard to build RSU 5 didn’t want to see it “torn apart.”

Michelle Ritcheson, an RSU 5 board member from Durham, was chairwoman of the RSU 5 Working Group, which negotiated withdrawal with the Withdrawal Committee. Ritcheson said she wouldn’t want to presume why Freeport residents voted as they did.

But, she said, “I hope the withdrawal effort was not successful because people realized that RSU 5 is better for all of the kids and the towns than going it alone. I am excited about bringing the district forward with the Freeport High School project and finding a new superintendent to lead our schools.”

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