KENNEBUNK — Thornton Academy’s headmaster is asking the Regional School Unit 21 school board to respect the contract set forth to allow Arundel students to only attend Thornton Academy Middle School.

The RSU 21 school board sent a letter to the TAMS board of trustees last week asking them to allow 15 Arundel students to attend the Middle School of the Kennebunks ”“ against a contract that states they cannot.

“The contract said it. The arbitrator confirmed it. The community vote maintained it,” wrote Carl Stasio, headmaster of TAMS, in a statement released Monday.

Some parents requested the RSU 21 school board send the letter at their Aug. 15 meeting, reasoning that their children should have the best education available.

“We’re ignoring these families, we’re ignoring these students, we’re choosing to do this, and I think that should be a matter of public record,” said Pam Wuerthner, an Arundel parent, at the meeting.

Wuerthner added that she knows the contract binds the students to TAMS, but that an exception should be made for  those who wish to leave.

Arundel middle school students are currently only allowed to attend TAMS under a contract between the school and RSU 21.

The transfer of 15 students would cost the district $350,000 in tuition fees, according to Stasio.

“If you take 45 kids out of the student population, it would start to not even look like a school,” said Stasio in an interview Monday about a hypothetical situation where more children would leave the school.

According to Stasio, the school’s population is approximately 160 students.

Besides the contract, a judge ruled last year that RSU 21 administrators can’t solicit students to transfer to other schools. RSU 21 Superintendent of Schools Andrew Dolloff said that sending the letter wouldn’t be in violation of the ruling.

Also, a referendum was held in May in which the majority of voters cast ballots against buying out the contract for $1.2 million.

Some RSU 21 school board members questioned if MSK would be able to accommodate a large number of students from Arundel even if TAMS allowed them to transfer.

Dolloff said MSK could take 15 additional Arundel students without requiring an increase in staff.

If more students wanted to attend MSK than spaces available, the district would possibly need to hold a lottery, according to Diane Robbins, RSU 21 school board member.

“You’ll have to make a determination on which kids go and which kids don’t,” said Robbins.

TAMS opened in 2006 after Arundel outgrew Mildred L. Day School 10 years ago, and sought new facilities for the town’s middle school students, according to Stasio. Arundel joined Kennebunk and Kennebunkport in 2008 to create RSU 21, while being assured that the contract between TAMS and RSU 21 would remain in place.

“Since we opened, parents have been overwhelmingly supportive; and interestingly, the RSU’s own survey found that 78 percent of Arundel parents are highly satisfied with TAMS,” wrote Stasio of a survey released this spring from the RSU 21 district.

— Staff Writer Matt Kiernan can be contacted at 282-1535, Ext. 326 or mkiernan@journaltribune.com.