DIXFIELD — Residents will decide Tuesday whether to begin the process for a possible withdrawal from RSU 10.

Question 3 on the referendum ballot asks residents whether they want to file a petition for withdrawal with the RSU 10 Board of Directors and the commissioner of the Department of Education. It also asks to authorize the Withdrawal Committee to spend up to $50,000, with municipal officers authorized to issue notes or pledge the credit of the town for up to that amount.

If approved, a committee would be formed to look into all aspects of withdrawal and devise an education plan for the town’s students. The committee would negotiate with the RSU 10 board.

The funds are needed for legal and other expert assistance.

The withdrawal issue surfaced several months ago at a school board meeting where nearly 600 residents heard Superintendent Tom Ward suggest a possible merger between Dirigo and Mountain Valley High School in Rumford could lower educational costs.

He said later that a high school to house all secondary students in the 12-town district would likely take at least a dozen years to get on a state funding list.

The district includes the towns of Canton, Carthage, Dixfield, Peru, Buckfield, Hartford, Sumner, Byron, Mexico, Roxbury, Rumford and Hanover.

RSU 10 committees and a consultant have been studying reconfiguring the eight schools in the Rumford and Dixfield regions. Any reconfigurations would happen only in the individual regions. All three high schools, including Buckfield Junior-Senior, would remain, Ward said.

Most of the residents said they were against merging Dirigo and Mountain Valley high schools. Some also believe the merger of SADs 43, 21 and 39 three years ago has not saved taxpayer money. However, Ward said $2.6 million has been saved in staff cuts, and costs for some things have not increased as much as they would have if the three districts had not merged.

Jon Holmes, a major force behind the withdrawal petition, has said he was primarily interested in withdrawal from RSU 10 only if the other towns that were once a part of the former SAD 21 also took steps toward withdrawal. Those towns are Carthage, Canton and Peru.

None of these three towns have a withdrawal question on the Nov. 6 ballot.

Polls will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 6, at the American Legion Hall.