Raymond voters decided Tuesday to prematurely end the withdrawal process from Regional School Unit 14.
In a lopsided decision, Raymond voters ended the withdrawal process that began last November in a 376-136 vote, with 16 blank votes cast.
Selectman Joe Bruno, the chairman of the Raymond Withdrawal Committee and a longtime skeptic of the withdrawal push, applauded the decision.
“I’m glad people looked at it the way we expected them to look at it,” Bruno said. “I think they voted appropriately, overwhelmingly.”
Selectwoman Teresa Sadak, a member of the withdrawal committee and a longtime champion of the withdrawal effort, said she wasn’t surprised by the vote, following the committee’s recent recommendation that the town end the withdrawal process.
“I think it was worth it to try to find out what’s gone on,” Sadak said. “I think it was worth it to open the eyes of the RSU school board that Raymond wasn’t happy. I think the Raymond representatives need to really take a look at what’s going in their own towns.”
The withdrawal vote ends a longtime crusade pioneered by Sadak. On Nov. 18, 2013, Sadak, then a newly elected selectwoman, said she was “ready for a divorce” from the school district, primarily due to concerns about the cost of building a new middle school in Windham. The following summer, she submitted a successful 352-signature petition to place a referendum vote initiating the withdrawal process on the November 2014 ballot.
That November, in a 1,324-940 vote, Raymond voters authorized town officials to send a petition for withdrawal to the RSU 14 Board of Directors and the commissioner of education. Raymond and Windham formed the district in 2008.
In accordance with state rules, Raymond then formed a four-member committee, which included Sadak, to draw up a withdrawal agreement, which would eventually have been put to a final vote at a special town meeting.
But after a lopsided vote in March to approve a new school district cost-sharing formula that increased taxes for Windham residents and reduced Raymond’s burden, the withdrawal committee moved to prematurely end the withdrawal process, scheduling a vote on the matter for June.
The committee voted 4-0 to recommend that the town end the withdrawal process.
The committee also found that withdrawing from Regional School Unit 14 could cost Raymond taxpayers an additional $500,000-$2.8 million annually. According to Bruno, the town contributed $8.5 million to the Regional School Unit 14 budget this year, and is projected to contribute between $8.3 million and $8.7 million next year. Under the committee’s projections, Raymond residents would pay between $9.2 million and $11.1 million annually if the town withdrew from RSU 14.
RSU 14 board Chairwoman Marge Govoni said the end of the withdrawal process will make it much easier for officials to manage district operations.
“I am very pleased that this has finally been put to bed,” she said. “It’s been really very difficult trying to function as a district with the possibility of that hanging over heads. It’s kind of like having two halves work as one, and now we’re one again, a whole district. I think its going to be much easier to continue with our business of the district in doing what’s best for our students, now that we are definitely one district again.”
Diana Froisland, of Raymond, vice chairwoman of the RSU 14 board, hailed the vote as a wise decision.
“I’m thrilled,” Froisland said. “I don’t think the withdrawal would have been in the best interest of our students. In the end, with the results of the withdrawal committee, it turned out it was going to be very expensive for Raymond to run alone, which means we most likely would have had to cut programs. By working together as an RSU, I think we can maintain the programs that we have and have a quality education for students.”
Neither Superintendent Sandy Prince nor Board Chairwoman Marge Govoni could be reached for comment.
For Sadak, the withdrawal process has been a success.
“This whole process, we got two huge things,” she said. “We got the cost-sharing formula lowered and we don’t have to pay for a new middle school.”
However, there are other issues that remain to be fixed, Sadak said.
“I think the most frustrating part of this is through this whole long process, the school board representatives still don’t have a clue as to what’s going on in their own town,” she said. “Diana Froisland has been nothing but hostile to this whole thing and arrogant. These guys need to get a grip on how the people feel in Raymond.”
Sadak, who said she has no regrets about the withdrawal campaign, said she does not plan to start a new withdrawal process.
“I am glad this process is over,” she said. “I am glad the town had a vote. I am glad it’s over right now.”
School Budget Approved
Windham and Raymond voters approved a school budget Tuesday that increases district spending $1,034,855, or 2.52 percent. In Windham, the school budget passed 165-108, while in Raymond it passed 391-133. The increase represents an estimated $106 tax hike for a $250,000 Windham home, and a $5 tax increase for a $250 Raymond home. The increase, according to district officials, is driven primarily by increased labor costs.
Since the recession, class sizes have increased as the district has cut the equivalent of 71 staff positions, according to Prince. In order to reverse the trend of growing class sizes, the school budget allocates $363,229 in new spending on staff hours and added or restored positions. The new spending on staff constitutes about 35 percent of the proposed budget increase. The budget also eliminates a Raymond Elementary School kindergarten teacher position and a Jordan-Small Middle School instructional interventionist position, representing a $59,970 spending cut.
The budget also hires new full-time instructors and increases working hours across the district. New or restored positions include a district-wide technology integrator, a social worker, high school volleyball and swim coaches, and two teachers at Windham Middle School. Teacher working hours will be increased at Jordan-Small Middle School and Windham High School, as well.
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