KINGFIELD — The Kingfield Independent School Committee hosted its first public information meeting for residents Monday night.

Since the RSU 58 budget is funded by revenues from state, federal and local resources, the towns pay their share each year based on the state’s assessment of their individual property values. Since taxes in Kingfield have been increasing, due to higher property values, Kingfield residents pay 41.25 percent of the total school budget, according to figures compiled by committee member Merv Wilson.

On Monday night, the committee asked Kingfield residents, those from Strong and from unorganized territories who were at the meeting to listen and discuss options to share costs, retain local control and focus on what’s best for their community. Avon pays 11.54 percent of the budget, Phillips pays 23.15 percent and Strong pays 24.06 percent. Kingfield receives more tuitioned students from neighboring unorganized territories but pays $1.4 million to the district, Wilson said.

“Are we getting our money’s worth?” one parent asked.

If the town decides to stay in the district or withdraw, voters will have plenty of time to mull the options, according to committee members. Meanwhile, residents should mull several options presented to them.

Kingfield Independent School Committee member and former SAD 58 school Principal David Holmes asked residents to consider returning to the original model of all grades in one school.

“We’ve got the facilities here at the Kingfield Elementary School for a K-12 program, but you can’t do it all at once,” Holmes said.

Over four years, Kingfield could retain one high school grade per year, he suggested.

If Holmes’ plan was implemented, ninth-graders would stay in Kingfield the first year, freshmen and sophomores the second year, freshmen, sophomores and juniors the third year, and all four high school classes in the fourth year. The gradual retention of each high school class would allow townspeople to absorb the expenses, plan their budget more systematically, and expand facilities more efficiently. The towns of Strong and Phillips might choose to do the same.

“People would want to come here if all the towns has their own schools,” another Kingfield resident said.

Other attendees disagreed, saying the problem was the overall decline of the existing system, including allowing teachers to teach classes not in their field of expertise. Tenured teachers can move into positions because of seniority, while teachers with less seniority are laid off during budget cuts.

“So you have an art teacher teaching cooking,” Alan Smith of Strong said. “You’ve got to change the way things are being done.”

Most of the audience agreed that lack of revenue resources and lack of local control were important parts of the picture.

Another perspective came from Heather Moody, a teacher and Kingfield selectman. Charter schools are not new in other parts of the country, she said, but recently have become options under Gov. Paul Lepage’s administration. Mt. Abram High School in Salem Township could become a charter school and attract new students and new revenues.

“This isn’t a new idea,” Moody said.

Former Mt. Abram High School Principal Jeanne Tucker had proposed the idea many years ago, she said. Costs are only part of the problem.

“In my town, like your town, we’re struggling with our tax rates,” she said.

She suggested a publicly funded charter school could recruit students while remaining independent from the “hog-tying rules” of the state.

The school should fit its curriculum to children, with more flexibility. Students could be prepared to go to Harvard University, Southern Maine Community College, or “work here in the woods,” if they chose, she said, because not everyone wants the same career path.