Richmond has already made one attempt — and is gearing up for another — while Dresden has just begun its effort to withdraw from Regional School Unit 2.
The Dresden Withdrawal Committee is scheduled to select a chairperson Thursday and set a date for when the committee is to meet.
While still early in the withdrawal process, Dresden entertained members of the Wiscasset School Department’s administrative team last week at the town’s Select Board meeting.
John Rzasa, chairperson of the Select Board, said Wiscasset Superintendent Michael Dunn and School Committee Chairperson Terry Wood came “strictly” for an introduction.
Dunn and Wood said they intend to follow Dresden’s withdrawal process, which began as a discussion in April when RSU 2 unveiled its budget for the upcoming school year. Since then, RSU 2 has offset the town allocations about which some municipal officials were upset.
Despite the allocations being offset, Dresden and Richmond are still going through the withdrawal process.
“We would be very happy to have them join our school district, if that is what works best for their students and families,” Wood said Tuesday.
RSU 2 includes Dresden, Farmingdale, Hallowell, Monmouth and Richmond.
Richmond began the withdrawal process in 2019, and included the vote on the June 8 ballot. It, however, did not receive the votes necessary to validate the withdrawal. The town needed more than 50% of the turnout for the last gubernatorial election — 822 voters — to validate a vote for withdrawal, but Richmond saw a turnout of only 550.
Kim Lane, a member of the Richmond Withdrawal Committee, said the town is moving toward another withdrawal vote. She said the committee is still in the process of gathering signatures to bring a withdrawal vote forward. Lane said “a few more” votes are needed to meet the threshold for a second vote — 10% of the turnout from the last gubernatorial election.
In Dresden, Rzasa said the process is new and Wiscasset school administrators wanted to stop by so the town could “entertain the thought of considering them” if the withdrawal makes it through the 22-step process. When the two parties met, there was “no formal discussion or agreement.”
Dresden has an elementary school in town but does not have its own middle school or high schools. Students who live in Dresden are bused to either RSU 2’s Richmond Middle & High School or Hall-Dale Middle School & High School.
An agreement with Wiscasset would likely result in sending Dresden middle and high school students to Wiscasset Middle High School.
The Dresden Withdrawal Committee is scheduled to meet at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Pownalborough Court House, 23 Courthouse Road. The meeting is open to the public.
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