The hubbub in Arundel early this week over whether or not to publish school funding figures in the town newsletter is concerning, and it highlights the importance of the selectmen’s role in guiding the town. We’re glad to see that, in the end, the board of selectmen narrowly agreed to let voters have the information in their town newsletter, but the process bears some consideration.

Town Manager Todd Shea had brought forward what he thought was a straight-forward, uncontroversial proposal to help educate the public ”“ but little did he know that nothing related to Arundel’s participation in the Regional School Unit 21 is simple any more. The town, which is pursuing the withdrawal process in an effort by some to secede and have their own school district once again, is horribly divided over this issue. Cutting words have been said by RSU supporters and detractors alike, with one resident, who had a letter published on this page,  saying she was told to move to the Kennebunks if she liked the RSU so much.

No, not even a few common sense numbers could get by this net of discontent in town.

What Shea had proposed shouldn’t have caused a stir. It’s just the figures showing how much Arundel appropriated for education expenses, before the RSU and now.

Those figures are public information, accessible to anyone who asks for them, but Shea felt that publishing them ”“ in a newsletter that’s mailed out to each and every resident ”“ might help people be better informed before voting on whether to pursue withdrawal from the RSU.

He’s right, of course ”“ all voters need to be informed about the fiscal realities of the vote at hand. But the two selectmen who voted against providing the information ”“ Thomas Danylik and Dana Peck ”“ had different reasons for wanting to keep those figures out of The Arrow newsletter.

The most disconcerting reason is Danylik’s continuing assertion that the town should have nothing to do with the RSU. The board has rejected any pleas for them to take a side on the issue, and though they have accepted updates about the situation, have not taken action in any way related to the schools.

We can see Danylik’s position, to a point, because there is a school board in place that oversees the schools and their budget, and the selectmen’s board is in place to oversee the town and its budget. It is not the purview of the selectmen to take a stand on the RSU issue, we agree, and in the interest of representing all Arundel citizens it would be best if they remain as impartial as possible.

That said, however, this issue of Arundel belonging to the RSU or setting back out on their own is obviously a big deal to the townspeople and should not be ignored. If Arundel does withdraw, a superintendent will have to be hired, a school board reformed, a new district considered. The selectmen would surely need to have a hand in some of this, at least at first.

As well, it’s worth remembering that the school budget, whatever district it’s through, makes up most of the tax burden for any taxpayer and selectmen have to keep it in mind when they consider their own budget. The taxpayer doesn’t note the difference between the town and school expenses ”“ only the amount that’s coming out of their wallet ”“ so it would serve the selectmen well to consider how each education option will affect the town financially.

As for Peck’s assertion that the numbers can be too vague and therefore misleading, we would counter that voters are smart enough to take in the figures, particularly with an unbiased explanation of what they mean. In fact, along with the town’s past figures, it would be ideal if the RSU could provide some preliminary figures for how the town will be financially impacted in the future. The district is proposing a large package of building renovations that won’t come cheap, and Arundel residents need to decide for themselves if those are investments in which they want to take part. They also need to consider, as some residents have mentioned, not only how much money they’re spending, but also what they get for their money. Arundel may not be able to afford those proposed building improvements to M.L. Day school and some of the programs that have been brought in by the RSU, like K-5 foreign language, on their own.