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School board declines unilateral renegotiation; council prepares citizen petition option
Summary
Cumberland requested the MSAD 51 school board open a 1966 cost‑sharing agreement for review; the school board chair responded the board will not unilaterally trigger renegotiation and urged joint town action or a citizen petition. Councilors and residents sharply criticized the school's response and signaled they will pursue a petition requiring roughly 818 signatures.
The Cumberland Town Council returned to an issue it has raised periodically for years: whether to reopen the district cost‑sharing agreement with North Yarmouth that allocates the district’s local share of school costs.
The council had voted in February to ask MSAD 51 to convene municipal representatives and consider renegotiation. On May 11, School Board Chair Lianne Candura delivered a written response and read it for the record. Candura told the council the board would not unilaterally vote to open the agreement and said the proper routes are either a majority vote of the full school board or a citizen petition that meets statutory signature thresholds. "A vote by one town's council requesting the school board open the agreement is not a legal trigger under the statute," she said, and urged both towns to work jointly and use consistent data in deliberations.
Councilors reacted sharply.…
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