August 24, 2018

Selectmen discuss Town of Raymond vote to withdraw from RSU14 by Colby Willis and Lorraine Glowczak


The Town of Raymond Board of Selectmen met Tuesday evening, August 21st at 6:30 p.m. at the Broadcast Studio, 423 Mills Road in Raymond. Among the agenda items, was the discussion surrounding the RSU14 withdrawal process; as a result of last week’s vote on August 14th by Raymond residents to withdrawal from the school district.

Town Clerk, Sue Look shared with the Board of Selectmen, the election results. There was a total of 301 voters who showed up at the polls, making it a 7.5 percent participation rate on an off-election (which was six times more than the last off-election). 171 residents voted for the withdrawal while 128 voted against (and 2 ballots remained “blank,” meaning that the individuals voted both “yes” and “no”). The election results also allow for the amount of $50,000 to be expended by the withdrawal committee over the course of two years.

Chair and Selectwoman, Teresa Sadak explained that Dan Stockberg, legal counsel for the Town of Raymond will act as the negotiator for the withdrawal committee while Mark Eastman, a former superintendent, will act as a consultant.

It was approved by the Board to allow the Town Manager, Don Willard to communicate per the consulting agreements with Eastman and Stockberg.

The next step will be a letter signed by the Board of Selectmen that will be sent to the Department of Education (DOE) and to the Superintendent of Schools, notifying both organizations of the intent to withdraw. The DOE has 30 days to respond to the letter, after which time a withdrawal committee of four voting members will be established, enacting the 22-step withdrawal process.

For more information about this meeting or other municipal meetings, video and minutes are available on the Town of Raymond website at www.raymondmaine.org.

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