On Tuesday, Raymond voters opted to move forward in the lengthy process of withdrawing from Regional School Unit 14.

In a 1324-940 vote, Raymond voters authorized town officials to send a petition for withdrawal to the RSU 14 Board of Directors and the commissioner of education.

The Nov. 4 vote is the fourth of 22 state-mandated steps required to withdraw from the school district. Now, the RSU 14 board will need to form a four-member committee to draw up a withdrawal agreement, which could eventually be put to a final vote at a special town meeting.

The Raymond Board of Selectmen voted Sept. 2 to hold the vote in response to a 352-signature petition submitted by Selectwoman Theresa Sadak calling on the town to hold a vote on whether to initiate the withdrawal process. The referendum question also sets aside $25,000 in contingency funds toward the formation of a withdrawal exploratory committee and associated legal costs.