ARUNDEL — With Tuesday’s votes tallied, the Town of Arundel has come to a decision regarding its relationship with Regional School Unit 21: Voters have resolved, by a 517-291 margin, to move forward with the withdrawal process.

A “yes” vote also authorizes a withdrawal committee to expend up to $35,000 for a panel of experts to study and release more official numbers pertaining to the cost of RSU involvement. It does not finalize a separation from the school district; rather, a series of subsequent hearings and votes will take place.

The vote is the culmination of months of debate about the future of education in Arundel. The movement to withdraw from the RSU was initiated by a petition, spearheaded in part by resident and volunteer firefighter David Lane, who has been an outspoken opponent of the town’s involvement in the school district.

“Needless to say, we’re pleased,” said Lane this morning, “and pleased with the turnout. It’s certainly clear the town agrees that something needs to be done.

“It has not been a good deal from the beginning,” he said. “Arundel likes to take care of Arundel.”

Lane added that he hopes, now that a vote has been tallied, that both sides can find a way to put a contentious few months behind them and work together.

Jack Reetz, a member of the RSU 21 school board and a proponent of the RSU, said he sees a silver lining in the vote. Reetz said he feels that, once a panel has been assembled to generate an official cost comparison, residents will see the full value of being in the district.

“Speaking as an individual, and not as a board member: I’m really satisfied that when all the facts are on the table, we’ll see that the RSU can provide a much, much better education for far less money,” said Reetz, this morning. “I’m not unhappy to hear (the results), and I look forward to what those numbers will be.”

Addressing a divided constituency, the Arundel Board of Selectmen moderated a public hearing at Mildred L. Day Memorial School on March 26 to share information and give the public a chance to weigh in on what has become a hot-button issue.

For many proponents of the school district, it was their first chance to voice their opinions and defend the town’s relationship with the RSU. In particular, resident Jeff Lemieux gave a detailed PowerPoint presentation, making the case that inclusion in the RSU has allowed Mildred L. Day School to improve its level of education by sharing resources with other schools in the district, allowing it to offer foreign language instruction, purchase new books for the library and make structural improvements to the building. He also cited evidence that seemed to suggest higher scores on standardized tests since the consolidation.

The anti-RSU contingent claimed that municipal budgets have shrunk in recent years to allow for district-wide cost increases.

Jon Renell, a proponent of withdrawal, said at the meeting that having Arundel operate its own, stand-alone school unit would put control back in the hands of the town.

Reetz said he hopes that moving forward with the process will help to clarify what that control will entail.

“This will be a good opportunity to learn what is meant by ”˜local control,’” said Reetz. “Those are nice words, but what is the meaning?”

Reetz added that he hopes the focus, moving forward, is on giving children in Arundel the best education possible.

The next step now will be to form the committee that will cull numbers for an official side-by-side cost comparison.

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