FREEPORT – With multiple committees nearly solidified, the complex process of studying Freeport’s withdrawal from the school district now is in motion.

An RSU Withdrawal Committee, with its full complement of four members, first meets on Wednesday, Jan. 29, at the Town Hall. The towns of Durham and Pownal, meanwhile, are filling positions for advisory committees, which will work with the Regional School Unit 5 board members from each town on Freeport’s possible withdrawal from the RSU.

Four committees are all working toward what could result in Freeport leaving RSU 5, which has been in existence since 2009. Ultimately, Freeport residents will make a decision in a withdrawal vote, probably in November.

The committees are:

• The RSU Withdrawal Committee, which consists of one town councilor, one RSU 5 board member, one member of Moving Freeport Forward (the group that petitioned for withdawal) and one at-large resident of Freeport. The Withdrawal Committee will negotiate Freeport’s withdrawal from the RSU with the RSU Working Group.

• The RSU Working Group, which consists of the RSU 5 board members from Durham and Pownal.

• The Advisory Committees from Durham and Pownal, which will work with the RSU Working Group, providing information on behalf of their respective towns.

Between now and November, there is much work to be done, as the state Department of Education requires a 22-step process. The Jan. 29 meeting of the RSU Withdrawal Committee represents Step 7.

Nelson Larkins, chairman of the RSU 5 board, will convene the meeting, then the committee will select its own chairman.

On Jan. 14, the Freeport Town Council selected Dennis King, chief executive officer for Spring Harbor Hospital in Portland and Maine Mental Health Partners, from among four candidates for the volunteer position on the Withdrawal Committee. The council made its choice in open session, each councilor ranking the candidates on a 1-4 scale, based on two written questions and a brief commentary.

“We had virtually a very close vote,” said Town Council Chairman James Hendricks.

Jane Bradley, a retired Maine District Court judge; Frederick Palmer, a former Town Council chairman who worked for the regional committee that formulated the RSU; and John Paterson, a retired lawyer and former councilor, were the other candidates.

King, 65, said he was a school board member in Hampden-based RSU 22, which has similar demographics to RSU 5 because it includes one large town and smaller ones.

“I am by nature a consolidator,” King told the council. “I understand the need to achieve better outcomes and cost savings.”

Sometimes, King continued, consolidation efforts don’t work. King said he voted for withdrawal on Dec. 17, but supported the consolidation effort that created the RSU.

King said he has no children in the school system, and no conflicts.

Meanwhile, the Pownal Board of Selectmen named its Advisory Committee, consisting of six residents, on Monday, Jan. 20. The meeting took place after the Tri-Town Weekly’s deadline. The Durham Board of Selectmen will fill the positions when it next meets on Jan. 28.

Tim Giddinge, Pownal’s board chairman, said last week that the RSU Working Group, which consists of Durham and Pownal school board members, has started to meet. It will host public meetings in both towns. The first is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 28, at Pownal Elementary School, and the second is set for Monday, Feb. 3, 7 p.m., at Durham Community School.

“The entire Working Group went to our Selectboard meeting (Jan. 12),” Giddinge said. “The Working Group will recommend the makeup of the Advisory Committee.”

This Working Group met with Durham selectmen on Tuesday, Jan. 13.

The group will negotiate an exit agreement with the Freeport Withdrawal Committee. Candace Decsipkes, John Ricker and Michelle Ritcheson are the Durham members, while Kathryn Brown and Naomi Ledbetter are the Pownal members.

The Advisory Committees from Durham and Pownal will keep the RSU Working Group informed on the needs of the students of each town, including possible new facilities for its high school students and, in the case of Pownal, its middle school students. Transportation and other issues also will be part of the Advisory Committee’s concerns, Giddinge said.

The Advisory Committee will consist of a parent from each school-age group – elementary, middle and high school; a resident without school-age children; a resident with a history in finance; and at least one selectman.

Giddinge said he does not know yet when or how often the Advisory Committee will meet.

“The Working Group is going to be negotiating with the withdrawal group from Freeport,” he said. “I don’t know whether they’ll meet as needed, or monthly, or weekly, or what. They’re looking for information on what’s going to happen to students, where they will go, how many buses do we need, and so forth.”

Both the Working Group and the Freeport Withdrawal Committee will work to have a withdrawal recommendation for the Maine commissioner of education by June. A second and final Freeport vote on withdrawal from RSU 5 would take place in November, according to early plans.

Giddinge said that School Administrative District 51 already has contacted Pownal town officials, hoping to interest them in Greely High School and Greely Middle School. It’s not yet time, however, for the Advisory Committee or the RSU Working Group to pursue alternatives to Freeport High School or Freeport Middle School, he said.

Brown said that the Working Group will try to meet weekly. The group needs to determine its public responsibilities, such as whether they should be public and the posting of dates and agendas, she said.

“We will meet with the Advisory Committee from time to time, just looking for input,” she said.

A CLOSER LOOK’

The RSU Working Group, which consists of Regional School Unit 5 directors from Durham and Pownal, will conduct public meetings on Tuesday, Jan. 28, at 6:30 p.m., at Pownal Elementary School and Monday, Feb. 3, at 7 p.m., at Durham Community School.

The RSU Withdrawal Committee meets Wednesday, Jan. 29, at 6:30 p.m., at Freeport Town Hall.

Dennis King