Westport Island voters could get decide whether or not to stop work on a possible pullout from Regional School Unit 12. Selectman and Withdrawal Committee Chairman Gerald Bodmer said he got word from a lawyer March 31, that a town vote is a legal way to halt the process.

Bodmer plans to discuss the idea further with the withdrawal committee. If a referendum does happen, the committee would hold a public hearing ahead of the vote, he said.

Westport Island created the committee in 2012, amid displeasure over the school district's cost-sharing formula. Since then, changes to the formula have worked in the town's favor; some residents are asking why the town is still taking steps toward withdrawal, Bodmer said. Until recently, committee members didn't know discontinuing the withdrawal process might be an option.

When Bodmer heard it might be, he contacted Paula Gravelle, school finance coordinator for the Maine Department of Education.

“At this time, you are accountable to the people in the town who voted to create a withdrawal committee ... tasked with creating a withdrawal agreement that the voters can then vote either to accept or reject,” Gravelle states in an email to Bodmer.

“You can either finish the process ... or (pursue) another referendum vote asking the voters whether or not they wish to stop the withdrawal process based on new information you would provide,” Gravelle continues. Her February 20 email recommends Bodmer consult with an attorney.

According to selectmen's February 24 meeting minutes, the board voted unanimously to ask attorney William Dale about the legality of stopping the process, and ask his advice on how to word the referendum question.

Bodmer said the board had been waiting for answers from Dale until Monday. Now that he has Dale's legal opinion, the withdrawal committee can discuss whether or not it will pursue the town vote, he said.

District Superintendent Howard Tuttle said he's glad the committee is looking into it. “We don't want to see anyone leave RSU 12,” Tuttle said March 26.

“I think it's in the best interest of all the (district's) students to stay together,” Tuttle said.

Meanwhile, the withdrawal committee's proposed pullout deal with the district is nearly complete. District debts the town would have to pay off still need to be added, before the proposal goes to the district board and then Maine's education commissioner, Bodmer said.

The withdrawal committee has eyed a possible November town vote on the deal; Bodmer did not know if or when the referendum will be held that could halt the process or keep it on track.

The Wiscasset School Committee on March 26 agreed to talk with withdrawal committee members, at Bodmer's request. The withdrawal committee is seeking a 10-year “guaranteed educational home” for all students in grades nine through 12, Bodmer states in a March 4 letter to Craig.

As part of its work toward the possible withdrawal, the committee needs to show the state that Westport Island has somewhere to send students not accepted into other schools, Bodmer has said.