ARUNDEL — Middle school students in Arundel may be prevented from attending Thornton Academy beginning next school year, ending a decade-long practice.

In a letter to Regional School District 21 Superintendent Katie Hawes dated Feb. 16, attorney Dick Spencer of Drummond Woodsum, which represents the district, said he believes Arundel students will not legally be able to attend Thornton Academy Middle School (TAMS) through publicly paid tuition after a 10-year contract with the school ends this year.

Spencer said under the state’s School Administrative Reorganization Law, students are allowed to choose what school they attend only if they were allowed choice prior to the formation of the RSU.

Because Arundel middle schoolers were under contract to attend TAMS and did not have school choice prior to the formation of RSU 21 in 2009, they do not have it now, he said.

High school students from Arundel still have the choice to attend Thornton, Kennebunk High School or Biddeford High School, as they had the choice before the formation of the RSU.

“It did come as a surprise,” said Hawes in a phone interview this morning. “We just assumed once it (the contract) expired, they would have choice.”

Hawes said the town of Arundel requested a second opinion from the Maine Department of Education, and the DOE agreed with Spencer.

Thornton Academy is a private school in Saco, which, through long-standing agreements, educates publicly funded high school students in Saco, Dayton and Arundel. Thornton Academy Headmaster Rene Menard was not available for comment this morning.

If they can no longer attend TAMS, Arundel students would have to attend Middle School of the Kennebunks in Kennebunk, because there is currently no middle school in Arundel.

Mildred L. Day School in Arundel was once a kindergarten through eighthgrade school, but it now serves kindergarten through fifth grade. In 2006, when Arundel was part of Maine School Administrative District 71, a 10-year contract was signed with Thornton Academy to have all middle-school students attend the newly created TAMS.

In 2009, under direction of the School Administrative Reorganization Law, Arundel, Kennebunk and Kennebunkport formed RSU 21.

In 2010, the RSU 21 school board voted to give middle schoolers choice between TAMS and Middle School of the Kennebunks. Thornton took legal action, arguing that the contract was exclusive, and an arbitrator agreed.

It was thought that after the contract expired this year, Arundel middle school students would have the choice to go to TAMS or Middle School of the Kennebunks.

Hawes said after the 2010 arbitrator decision, the TAMS contract was not reviewed further.

“In hindsight, we should have looked at it,” she said.

Hawes said she can understand the perspective of Arundel parents whose children go to TAMS and plan to go to Thornton for high school, that pulling them out of TAMS next year may be disruptive.

She said the school board will review the legal opinion and discuss the issue at 7 p.m. March 7 at Kennebunk Elementary School. A large crowd is expected, and the meeting has been moved to the gymnasium.

The news comes at a time when bussing to Thornton next year is up for debate. The school department has proposed amending its transportation policy so that it would not bus students to Thornton Academy.

Hawes said a decision on this issue has been put on hold while the board tackles the middle school choice issue.

— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 325 or egotthelf@journaltribune.com.