There is more than one way to stop the student exodus in Regional School Unit 5, in which some 18 percent of students – approaching 1 in 5 – are going to public schools in other districts or to private schools.

That’s 327 students going to schools elsewhere. There are 1,826 students attending classes in the six RSU 5 schools.

The residents of Durham, Freeport and Pownal took one important step to halt the “brain drain” in November 2013, approving a $14.6 million bond to renovate Freeport High School. RSU 5 will submit bids next autumn for the project. Students walking into a new-looking high school a year later might not be quite as inclined to seek a transfer.

William Michaud, who shares the superintendent’s position with Mike Lafortune for just this year, has made another move intended to keep RSU 5 students going to RSU 5 schools, which in turn brings in more state aid to education. Michaud has stopped allowing students to transfer under the superintendents’ agreement. If approved by the superintendents, it allows a student to attend a school out of district. In the past, students have been allowed to switch schools for reasons other than academics, such as athletics.

“I’m not signing any superintendents’ agreements right now unless there is a compelling reason to go to another school, especially now that the withdrawal question has been settled,” Michaud said.

Michaud was referring to Freeport’s attempt to withdraw from RSU 5, which prompted some families to worry how long RSU 5 would be intact. Some sent their children to Brunswick, Yarmouth, Greely or other nearby schools. Freeport residents then voted against withdrawal last November.

Michaud said he has been denying the superintendents’ agreement transfers all year. Superintendents involved in both districts must agree to a transfer.

Prior to Michaud’s arrival as a temporary replacement for Shannon Welsh, there were 38 RSU 5 students using the agreement, he said. The state subsidy is $2,100 per student, so RSU 5 is losing $79,800 on those 38 students.

“We’ve had requests for new ones and I have denied them,” Michaud said. “Athletics is not a compelling reason. I’ve probably denied at least a dozen.”

Of the 327 students attending schools out of district, 25 are attending charter schools. There are 217 who either attend private schools or pay the tuition to go to other public schools. There are 35 home-schooled students in RSU 5. Durham is sending 12 students to Brunswick or Yarmouth. Those students had that option prior to the formation of RSU 5 in 2009, and this is the final year they can be grandfathered in.

School officials believe that a third means of slowing down the migration of students would be to upgrade educational opportunities, and the RSU 5 board is in the midst of that endeavor. The board is proceeding with a 2015-2016 budget that supporters hope will make it more competitive in retaining students. As yet, the school board has made no cuts or amendments to a $29,869,882 budget proposal that equals a 9.15 percent overall increase.

Jerry Antl and Joe Migliaccio, both of Freeport, spoke at the March 25 school board meeting when the budget was unveiled. They said that kind of a spending increase might be needed to improve programs and retain students.

Meanwhile, Michaud is doing his part.

“You don’t want to say to people, ‘You have to go here,’ but it’s easier to do that if you have the programming,” he said.

Migliaccio said last week that in order for him to support a 9 percent spending increase, the school board must show that the new spending will reduce the number of RSU 5 defections.

“Don’t just swallow the 9 percent without questions,” he said. “It must reduce that number. I want to know why such a high percentage of Freeport residents do not attend the high school, as compared to a town (Yarmouth) right next door. I and a bunch of parents who were for withdrawal are out of solutions. Send the budget as proposed to the voters, and let them decide.”

Migliaccio recalled that as a town councilor six years ago, he sat on the Consolidation Planning Committee that was working with Yarmouth on a possible school district merger, which would have also included Pownal.

“Even then, we had one of the highest percentages in our area of Freeport students not going to the high school,” he said. “But Yarmouth wanted Freeport to come up to Yarmouth standards. They wanted more support staff to help students slipping below standards. They wanted more ed techs, and other programming. They said Freeport needed $1.5 million-$2 million worth of catch-up.”

Migliaccio sends one of his daughters to Freeport Middle School and the other to a charter school, Baxter School for Technology and Science, in Portland.

“I chose Baxter for reasons that are multi-faceted,” he said.

Eric Horne of Freeport has three children attending Freeport schools. Horne, who attended Freeport schools himself, said that RSU 5 must make strides in terms of funding local education.

“You can’t just fund it at the status quo,” said Horne, whose wife, Valy Steverlynck, is a school board member. “I think that this budget is a reflection of what is needed. About 5 percent of the 9 percent increase is just to maintain the status quo.”

Horne said that RSU 5 needs to do more to help both average- and above-average students.

“There are average students who need extra help,” he said. “You don’t want kids falling through the cracks. And you have high achievers who don’t have enough opportunities through the existing system.”

Charter schools are one option for people who are not satisfied with the level of education in their community, Horne said.

Horne also said that RSU 5, with the withdrawal issue behind it, has a “huge opportunity” to solidify itself.

“The RSU has a lot of strength,” he said, “but it just can’t tread water. It needs to get better.”