KENNEBUNK — Members of the RSU 21 Cost-Sharing Amendment Committee voted unanimously on Wednesday to retain the same cost-sharing agreement decided upon in 2013.

Arundel, Kennebunk and Kennebunkport agreed to share non-state-funded costs for their consolidated school district, RSU 21, in 2013. As part of that agreement, each town is responsible for paying local funds based on 90 percent of the town’s valuation and 10 percent of the pupil, or student, population.

The vote follows the committee’s meeting last Wednesday, during which none of its members expressed any major concerns regarding the agreement as it currently stands. At that meeting, members said the agreement, though not perfect, adequately satisfies the communities’ needs.

“I think if we look at the process that came about in 2012-13, although it’s not a perfect document, I think it’s worked pretty well,” Richard Smith, a representative from Kennebunk, said at last week’s meeting. “I think when you look at approximately 77 percent of the budget is state-mandated, it is very heavily weighted toward student population, and this rendition we crafted the last time has at least addressed some of that issue.”

Using this year’s school budget of about $43 million, residents of the three towns are responsible for sharing a combined $25.8 million in costs. Of that, Kennebunk is responsible for paying 68 percent, or $17.5 million. Kennebunkport is responsible for about 18.6 percent of the bill, and Arundel is responsible for about 13.4 percent.

Kennebunk bears most of the weight because the town is valued the highest out of the three communities – $2.12 billion – and because it has the most students – 1,581.

Kennebunkport is valued at $1.82 billion, yet has the smallest number of students, about 397. Arundel is valued at $415.4 million and has about 570 students.

At Wednesday’s meeting, concerns regarding current litigation against RSU 21 by Thornton Academy were raised because the case could financially impact the costs shared among the RSU 21 communities.

In April, Saco’s Thornton Academy filed suit against RSU 21 to preserve the choice for Arundel middle school students who want to attend Thornton Academy Middle School. An agreement was signed between Arundel and Thornton Academy in 2006 when Arundel was part of Maine School Administrative District 71.

It was thought that after Arundel joined RSU 21 in 2009, students from the town could choose to attend either TAMS or Middle School of the Kennebunks when the 10-year contract expired this year.

“One of the things that seems to be hanging out there that I don’t understand is the effect of the current Thornton Academy lawsuit against the RSU and how that may or may not affect the dollars that we’re trying to split up here,” Smith said Wednesday. “Where is it in the budget and what kind of money are we talking about?”

RSU 21 Superintendent Katie Hawes, correcting Smith in saying the case is actually a declaratory judgment against the RSU, said that if a judge declares Arundel students can attend TAMS under the original contract, then the RSU would be responsible for paying the middle school state-set tuition rate for those students.

“What Thornton Academy is asking a judge to declare is whether or not middle school students – not high school students – in Arundel have a choice between Middle School of the Kennebunks or Thornton Academy Middle School, or if they all have to go to MSK. We are saying we have solid legal ground to say they all go to MSK, and that’s where this stands right there,” Hawes said.

Smith expressed concern over the possible costs associated with the litigation should a judge rule RSU 21 would have to publicly float the tuition for Arundel middle school students who want to attend TAMS.

RSU 21 Business Administrator Bruce Rudolph said the state subsidizes the cost of education for essential programs and services and that the cost of educating students at TAMS would be factored against the district’s state-subsidized amount.

According to the latest Maine Department of Education figures from 2014-2015, RSU 21 spends approximately $11,723 in operating costs per single elementary pupil. Thornton Academy’s current middle school tuition is $11,000 per year.

Rudolph said any amount it would cost to educate a student at TAMS over the amount it would cost at MSK would be added to the RSU’s “additional local contributions” to be shared among the three towns.

Hawes said there likely won’t be any change in costs for the three towns because so few students are choosing to attend TAMS. This year, fifth grade students from Arundel were given a choice which school to attend, and only 20, less than 50 percent of students, elected to attend TAMS, Hawes said.

Following discussion of costs, the committee unanimously approved retaining the current cost-sharing agreement between the three towns. The agreement will be evaluated by a newly-appointed committee within five years, per the agreement’s original terms.

— Staff Writer Alan Bennett can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 329 or abennett@journaltribune.com.