Rising costs, falling enrollment lead Maine towns to consider leaving school districts 

As property values rise and public-school enrollment drops across Maine, several towns are considering steps to leave their current districts.

“These withdrawals fit into a longstanding debate over the size and nature of Maine’s school districts, and follow a statewide consolidation push in 2007 that generated significant controversy,” Kristian Moravec writes for the Maine Monitor.

“They also come at a time when property values, and thus taxes, are spiking in towns across Maine, and when growing education costs are prompting cries to reassess how the state and local towns should divide responsibility for funding public schools.”

In one example, the Embden town – part of the Regional School Unit (RSU) 74 district in Somerset County – will vote on whether to start the process of school withdrawal June 10. 

“The only reason we’re looking to withdraw is to get out of the high valuation and the low student attendance,” said Paul Fortin, chair of Embden’s withdrawal exploratory committee. “After that, if you’re looking for significant savings in education, it has to be consolidation. And hopefully when they do that, they won’t punish the high valuation towns.” 

Embden has the district’s highest property valuation – more than doubling over 10 years – because of its waterfront location around several small lakes, according to Moravec. 

Complex withdrawal process of 22 steps 

Other towns considering withdrawal include Strong and Phillips, who recently voted to establish exploratory committees to research leaving Maine School Administrative District 58. 

“Another district in the area, MSAD 59, or Madison Public Schools, lost three towns — Starks, Athens and Brighton Plantation — between 2012 and 2013,” Moravec notes. 

Embden previously explored the possibility of withdrawing from RSU 74 in 2015, according to Moravec. 

“If Embden ultimately decides to withdraw, it would need to set up its own school administrative unit, with a school board, superintendent and budget, even if it does not have a school. This unit would then be responsible for arranging for students to attend schools in another district on tuition, which the town would pay, and for arranging transportation.” 

Towns exploring withdrawal must undergo a complex process of 22 steps – including collecting petition signatures, authorizing legal costs and creating an agreement with the district, Moravec explains. 

“The withdrawal process can take between one and two years,” she writes. “Residents must vote on the final step by November 30 of the year before the town hopes to withdraw.”