BYRON — Voters at the annual town meeting Monday night will decide whether to file a petition to withdraw from RSU 10.
Voters were asked at town meeting last year if they favored withdrawal, but the majority didn’t. Instead they wanted answers to questions and formed a committee.
Byron pays just over $200,000 in school taxes.
It has 17 students attending RSU 10 schools, although the district is charging them for 24 students, Head Selectman Anne Marie Simmons-Edmunds said. She said she contacted district Superintendent Tom Ward to learn why, and was told the district is two years behind on its enrollments.
The district is charging Byron from $12,000 to $19,000 per child, Simmons-Edmunds said.
“For that kind of money, we can send our kids to Gould Academy” in Bethel, she said.
Should voters approve filing a petition to withdraw, she said if the state and district OK that, “we’ll tuition our students wherever.”
“We have four students attending Holy Savior Catholic School (in Rumford) now and I’m sure their high school would love to have more of our children,” Simmons-Edmunds said.
“That’s $4,000 to $5,000 less than what RSU 10’s Meroby (Elementary School) or Mountain Valley High School would charge.”
“We’re done, we’re fed up with them,” she said.
“The school district is two years behind in their enrollment figures. We’re paying for kids that aren’t in school and are out of school.
“Four of our kids they’re charging us for aren’t even in school and three other students are second-year college kids,” Simmons-Edmunds said.
“That’s why we have not sent a payment to RSU 10 since January. If they want to kick all of our kids out, so be it….We’re making a stand.”
RSU 10 has 2,800 students from the 12 towns of Canton, Carthage, Dixfield, Peru, Buckfield, Hartford, Sumner, Byron, Mexico, Roxbury, Rumford and Hanover.
The article asks if voters favor filing a petition for withdrawal with the school Board of Directors and with the state commissioner of education. It also asks if they’ll authorize the Withdrawal Committee to spend up to $25,000 and authorize municipal officers to borrow or pledge the credit of the town in an amount not to exceed $25,000 for that purpose.
If all selectmen’s recommendations are approved, the town will have a municipal budget of $159,000. That’s up $21,458.75 over last year’s appropriation of $137,543.25.
Voters are also being asked if they want to repeal the Shoreland Zoning Ordinance that was adopted on June 30, 2009. Simmons-Edmunds said it’s been perceived as too restrictive.
It requires a 250-foot setback from wetlands and waterbodies. Should voters approve the article, the town would revert to the state setback minimum of 75 feet.
The town meeting is set for 6:30 p.m. at the Coos Canyon Schoolhouse.
BYRON — In municipal elections on the floor at town meeting Monday, Selectman Anne Simmons-Edmunds is seeking re-election to her second, three-year term. She said she was elected in 2008 to finish her father’s term.
Allison Freeman is seeking re-election as town clerk, treasurer and tax collector for the ensuing year. There are articles in the warrant that seek to extend those positions to three-year terms, effective in 2014.
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