PHILLIPS — The Maine School Administrative District 58 board of directors is considering a plan to close Day Mountain Regional Middle School in Strong, which serves grades 6-8, and shift grades 7-12 to Mount Abram High School, said Superintendent Laura Columbia.

The board did not vote at its Sept. 18 meeting, Columbia said. It will meet again to discuss consolidation and vote at the Oct. 16 meeting.

“This is a very difficult conversation for everyone, and it was clear last night (Sep. 18) that no one takes the idea of closing a school lightly,” Columbia said.

The plan would also configure Phillips Elementary School and Kingfield Elementary School to serve pre-kindergarten through grade 6.

Columbia noted that any closure would ultimately have to be approved by voters.

In Kingfield, voters on Sept. 16 authorized the town, 145-35, to begin the state-defined withdrawal study from MSAD 58.

The ballot asked: “Do you favor filing a petition for withdrawal with the board of directors of regional school unit MSAD#58 and with the Commissioner of Education, authorizing the withdrawal committee to expend $15,000.00 and authorizing the municipal officers to issue notes in the name of the Town of Kingfield or otherwise pledge the credit of the Town of Kingfield in an amount not to exceed $15,000.00 for this purpose?”

A community explainer circulated by Kingfield Cares emphasized, “This is NOT a vote to withdraw or to make any changes to the school district,” describing the step as permission to gather accurate information and “develop an educational plan” for a later community vote.

Comments on the resident-run Kingfield Cares social media page urged support.

“The turmoil created through uncertainty of school closures and district reconfiguration has deeply impacted my family and others,” Marie Daigle wrote, urging a “YES” to “pursue information that supports fact-based decision making.”

Julie Talmage wrote that “at this crossroad, it makes the most common sense,” adding that a yes vote “keeps educational options open” until the community gains “more clarity through gaining more information.”

The MSAD 58 board of directors Finance and Operations Committee has examined multiple reconfiguration models since May after reviewing a districtwide facilities assessment. In a Sept. 4 memo, the committee summarized space and configuration tradeoffs across scenarios.

In one option, the memo cautioned, “There are current concerns that space may be a major factor.” By summer, the list was narrowed to three revised proposals that all call for closing Day Mountain. The version up for a vote is called “Revised A2,” and the memo also states that “both PES and KES are able to accommodate the grade levels described in this scenario.”

Columbia said the district will continue to “weigh all options carefully,” and a longer-range, 10-year concept envisions ultimately consolidating the two elementary schools into a single complex on the high school campus.

MSAD 58 serves the towns of Phillips, Avon, Kingfield and Strong.