Now that the three-year waiting period has passed, Arundel residents who want out of Regional School Unit 21 are eager to begin the withdrawal process. As of Jan. 2, 2012, petitioners can begin collecting signatures of those who favor withdrawing from the RSU, which now includes Kennebunk, Kennebunkport and Arundel.

We doubt it will take them long to get enough people to sign, considering the fervor shown by many who want to have an independent school district again. A straw poll taken on Election Day 2010 gathered 421 signatures of those in favor of withdrawal from the RSU, out of 438 voters who were asked to sign ”“ and that was just in one day.

This petition will require only 189 signatures, so the process is sure to get rolling quickly.

For those who want out of the RSU, money is the major motivating factor, though the costs-versus-benefits analysis of being part of the RSU has been hotly debated. It’s the hard numbers that Arundel voters will need as they consider the prospect of withdrawing from RSU 21. The town is planning to commission an independent cost study if the petition is successful, which will help clear up, once and for all, what the change will mean for voters’ pocketbooks. But that shouldn’t be the only consideration.

We hope residents will also consider the unbiased facts of what the costs and impact to education will be if they withdraw.

The RSU has been able to add a Spanish program and gifted and talented program at the elementary level, and all-day kindergarten, all of which are important benefits to consider ”“ and that could not necessarily be afforded by Arundel alone.

Let’s not forget the budget of 2008, the final year of the Arundel school district, when the town passed a budget of $6.6 million, an increase of a whopping 7.5 percent over that of the previous year, due to cuts in state aid. That increase meant $300 more per year for the owner of a $200,000 home. With a locked-in contract to Thornton Academy Middle School and all high school students tuitioned to area schools of their choice, the Arundel district at the time had little choice but to make drastic cuts at the Mildred L. Day School K-5 program as their only negotiable area, or raise taxes. They chose the latter.

Money is once again at issue, with RSU 21 proposing nearly $51.4 million of investment in school infrastructure, which will include major renovations to Kennebunk High School and to the elementary schools as well, with bonds slated to go before voters in the fall of 2012. That’s partly why petitioners will be trying to move as fast as they can to get out of the RSU in the next several months, before the town is locked into a significant amount of debt.

Even if Arundel voters reject the renovation bonds, they’d most likely be outvoted if Kennebunk and Kennebunkport approve the work. Arundel voters rejected the last school budget, after all, but it didn’t matter much because the other two towns OK’d it.

It’s true that both Arundel and Kennebunkport have little power in the RSU, with a population of 4,022 to and 3,474, respectively, to Kennebunk’s 10,798. Not only at the polls but also on the RSU board, that power plays out: Arundel and Kennebunkport have only three members each, while Kennebunk has six. Though those numbers make sense for the towns’ respective populations, it certainly doesn’t allow the two smaller towns to have a majority vote on the board for any issue.

The idea, of course, is to take a wider view of what’s best for the district as a whole, rather than becoming divided along town lines, but this approach doesn’t work for everything. Unavoidably, there will be issues that will affect one town more than the other ”“ like the proposed closure of Sea Road School in Kennebunk ”“ but the smaller towns don’t have enough votes to stick up for themselves individually. Arundel still has high school choice, for example, which makes many of its residents hesitant to contribute millions to renovate KHS when only some of their students actually go there. It’s tough for each town to consider the “district as a whole” when not everyone is playing by the same rules.

The push to pursue withdrawal came to a head in June 2010 because of one of those very issues, when the RSU 21 school board voted to terminate Arundel’s contract with Thornton Academy Middle School, at a cost of $1.2 million. Voters ultimately rejected appropriation of the money, so the buyout failed in May. Most Arundel voters wanted to keep the contract ”“ they are the ones who had voted it in, after all ”“ and were livid about the board’s decision and the related legal costs incurred when the board broke the contract by sending a few students to MSK anyway.

The whole issue has left a very bitter taste in the mouths of parents who support TAMS, among others.

As they pursue withdrawal, however, they must remember, that it’s unlikely the state will allow Arundel to stand alone as a “doughnut-hole” district because the town is too small and it makes sense geographically for them to be partnered with a nearby district.

According to the state law, “a municipality that does not join a conforming school administrative unit within two years of withdrawal is subject to the penalties applicable to a non-conforming school administrative unit.” Arundel can’t afford penalties ”“ that’s why they consolidated with the Kennebunks in the first place. It’s easy to get wrapped up in the fervor of the withdrawal effort and the desire for independence, but we hope Arundel voters take the long view of how this will impact students, and take the time to consider the facts once the town gets a cost analysis. The grass isn’t always greener on the other side.

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Today’s editorial was written by Managing Editor Kristen Schulze Muszynski on behalf of the Journal Tribune Editorial Board. Questions? Comments? Contact Kristen by calling 282-1535, Ext. 322, or via e-mail at kristenm@journaltribune.com.