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Select Board outlines feasibility role for school-withdrawal committee
Summary
Following a ballot outcome, the Select Board discussed forming a four-member withdrawal committee to run a feasibility study that will analyze options (stay, operate an independent elementary, or seek another district); board to appoint three members and the school board will appoint one.
The Harrison Select Board spent a substantial portion of its June 25 meeting preparing for the next phase of a school-district withdrawal process after a successful ballot question.
The board reviewed legal guidance from counsel and agreed that a town-appointed withdrawal committee should begin with a feasibility study to evaluate options: operating Harrison as its own elementary district, negotiating to join another district, or staying with the current district. The committee will examine costs, short- and long-term educational impacts, and negotiated settlement terms if withdrawal moves forward.
How it will work: the school committee will appoint one member and the Select Board will appoint three members to the four-person withdrawal committee. Counsel (Dan Stockford) advised the board that, per the statute cited in the discussion, one committee seat should come from the group that filed the original petition (the Harrison Educational Options Committee) and one should be a resident of Harrison; the statute does not expressly require that a petitioner must be a signer of the petition to serve.
The board described the work as a two-step process: a feasibility/analysis phase to identify viable options and related costs, followed (only if the committee recommends it) by negotiation with the district and the state about the terms of withdrawal. The board noted the state Department of Education and the school district would control parts of the timeline; any negotiated withdrawal agreement would require a public hearing.
Next steps: the board expects to advertise for applicants and to appoint committee members at a July meeting. Staff will gather relevant statutory guidance and the steps checklist for members and make links and materials available on the town website.
