ARUNDEL — Arundel’s relationship with Regional School Unit 21 is being held under the microscope.

Thanks to the efforts of a group headed by resident and volunteer firefighter David Lane, a petition may be submitted to the town early next year that would establish a Special Town Meeting vote to gauge public reaction to the possibility of divorcing the town from the RSU.

Until Wednesday night, the town had been poised to send out a request for proposals for the commission of a cost study to determine whether secession from the school district would in fact be cheaper for taxpayers.

But those plans were put on hold during a meeting of the board of selectmen Wednesday night, when town officials decided to put a temporary halt to the RFP and instead hold a public workshop to discuss the petition process. Arundel residents are welcome to attend the workshop, which will be held during the next scheduled board meeting at Mildred L. Day Memorial School on Monday, Dec. 12.

Discussion on Wednesday night centered around whether to send out the RFP anyway, before the details of the petition process are finalized. But that would have committed the town to spend money on a cost study ”“ perhaps as much as $10,000, according to Town Manager Todd Shea ”“ that may be unnecessary. If the petition for a Special Town Meeting were to fall short of the required 189 signatures, then the RSU divorce process would essentially be halted in its tracks, rendering the information gleaned from the cost study useless.

Selectman Mark Paulin, who predicted that the petition effort would succeed, established himself as a proponent of sending out the RFP early, both to give the group organizing the petition accurate numbers with which to work, and to secure RSU cost estimates that he felt would be beneficial to the town either way.

“I want to know if being with the Kennebunks is going to be better (for Arundel),” said Paulin. “It shouldn’t make a difference whether (they) have a petition out.

“This is about trying to find out what’s the right cost,” he said. “Why are we going to subject all our neighbors and friends to this all over again? Let’s just get this through and find out what the costs are. Maybe they want to wait and see some numbers before they send the petition out.”

Paulin’s opinion marked a strong contrast to that of fellow board member Thomas Danylik, who advocated caution, not wanting to see Arundel spend any money unless it was required to do so by a successful petition.

“Why put out this RFP and then decide where we’re going to spend this money when we may not have to spend it at all?” he asked rhetorically. “Can’t we wait to see if they come up with a petition first? Tens of thousands of dollars! That’s a waste of money.”

Lane’s group, according to Shea, would be allowed to start collecting signatures starting on Jan. 2, 2012. Then begins a complex series of “ifs” in what could be a convoluted process:

Ӣ If the petition is successful, and the required 189 signatures are submitted to the town that would trigger a Special Town Meeting.

Ӣ If a Special Town Meeting is held, it would be to vote on the creation of a committee to study the effects of RSU withdrawal. The article on the ballot would need 60 percent approval to pass.

Ӣ If that vote garners the necessary 60 percent, the special committee would then be formed. The committee would need to be comprised of members of the RSU, the Arundel Board of Selectmen, and at least one member of the group that initiated the original petition.

Ӣ If the committee decides it would be beneficial to divorce from the RSU, it would be charged with devising a plan on how to provide the same level of education to Arundel students, and at what cost to the town.

Ӣ If the committee is successful in devising that plan, they would send it to the Maine Department of Education for review. The department can deny the plan, give it conditional approval, or approve it outright.

Ӣ If the Department of Education approves it, that would necessitate yet another Special Town Meeting to make the final decision on RSU withdrawal, based on the guidelines of the approved plan. That Special Town Meeting article would need a two-thirds majority to pass.

”¢ If either Special Town Meeting vote fails, Lane’s group will not be allowed to submit another petition for a period of two years.

Shea acknowledged that the process is quite a lengthy one. Lane, for his part, said he hopes to work together with the board to help ease the process.

“The group wants to work together with the selectmen,” said Lane. “We don’t want to go through all this on our own.”

— Staff Writer Jeff Lagasse can be contacted at 282-1535, Ext. 319 or jlagasse@journaltribune.com.