Wiscasset will withdraw from Regional School Unit 12 starting July 1, 2014.

On November 5, Wiscasset residents voted 613-280 to leave RSU 12. They cast enough ballots to hit the threshold the state set to make Tuesday’s decision stick.

Barring the unforeseen, the town will no longer be part of the school district as of July 1, 2014.

“We’re withdrawing,” Town Clerk Christine Wolfe announced to reporters at the Wiscasset Community Center where voting took place.

Next steps are to elect a school committee, line up a superintendent and pass a budget.

“We've got a long row to hoe,” Selectmen's Chairman Ed Polewarczyk said. Scheduling the school committee elections will likely be on the board's agenda for its next meeting, November 19, he said.

“We can't delay. Next June or July will be here before we know it,” Polewarczyk said.

Selectman Jeff Slack served on a panel that negotiated the withdrawal deal with the school district. He said that when he heard earlier Tuesday night that the required turnout number had been hit, he expected the difference between the yes votes and the no's to be much smaller, maybe 50 votes.

“I'm shocked,” he said of the wide margin.

Slack also said he was glad the withdrawal passed. Ahead of the vote, he had declined to take a public stance, except to say he hoped enough people would turn out. Following Tuesday night's results, Slack said he believes withdrawal is the right move for the town.

He wouldn't say if he thought the town should or shouldn't close a school to cut costs, but he said he hopes the town continues to offer a kindergarten through grade 12 education rather than tuitioning out some grades.

Regional School Unit 12 Superintendent Howard Tuttle said he was surprised and sad that Wiscasset chose to leave the district.

“The district has spent three years trying to make it work with Wiscasset. That was a lot of energy,” Tuttle said. “We're going to miss the students, the staff and the families of Wiscasset.”

Under the withdrawal deal, the district could keep sending students to Wiscasset another 10 years.

However, Richard DeVries, a Westport Island representative to the district board, said he will encourage parents in that town to enroll their children elsewhere, including Edgecomb Eddy School, Lincoln Academy, Great Salt Bay CSD and a Montessori school in Damariscotta.

DeVries expressed concern about the possibility of post-pullout cost cuts by Wiscasset. “We’d be better off education-wise” to educate Westport Island students in other towns, he said.

DeVries was unsure if Westport Island is any less or more likely to leave the district now that Wiscasset is getting out. Westport Island is already in talks with the district about a possible pullout.

Results of a pair of other ballot questions have sent selectmen a clear  message on how to fund up to $2 million in withdrawal costs.

Only the selectmen’s proposed loan passed, with 522 yes votes and 330 no’s.  A citizens’ petition had proposed tapping the town’s reserve fund. That idea went down, with 279 yes votes and 561 no’s.

Among residents interviewed outside the center after they voted, none said the question on whether or not to withdraw from Regional School Unit 12 was what drew them to the polls.

“Not at all. I'm an American citizen, exercising my rights,” Patsy Messier said.

Gordon Kontrath and his wife of 48 years, Lynne Kontrath, just moved here from New Jersey.

“We just wanted to get involved and vote,” Lynne Kontrath said.

Dave Taylor said he wanted to support some of the proposed state bonds. The ones to improve Maine's community college buildings and Maine Army National Guard buildings are particulary important, he said.

However, Taylor said he would have voted even if there was nothing specific he was interested in on the ballot. “I was in the military eight years and I saw a lot of countries that don't have the freedoms we have,” he said.

“It's such a privilege,” Taylor said about voting.

In addition to Tuesday’s withdrawal issues, Wiscasset voters passed an adult entertainment ordinance and new standards for roads. They approved a $974,000 loan to go with $226,000 in federal aid for sewer work. That vote ran 492 for the loan, 371against it.

The adult entertainment rules, which passed 487-385, will require the businesses to have 1,500-foot setbacks from schools, churches, parks, ballfields and other public recreation spots; and a 250-foot setback from a home’s property line.

The roads rules will bring in a tiered system of standards, linked to the number of homes being added.