Arundel voters will decide June 14 if they want to allocate money to study withdrawing from Regional School Unit 21.

The push to leave the consolidated unit Arundel formed with Kennebunk and Kennebunkport began in March, when the Arundel Board of Selectmen accepted a petition from residents to start the withdrawal process. It is the second attempt to leave RSU 21 since 2012.

The driving force behind the push to leave RSU 21 is the issue of school choice. Some parents and residents are upset that the district will no longer pay for Arundel students to attend Thornton Academy Middle School. Current middle school students at TAMS will be allowed to finish.

On Election Day, voters will be asked if they want to allocate $45,000 from the town’s undesignated fund surplus to find a study committee. That committee would use an independent consultant to study the issue and develop a separation agreement.

Arundel joined the district with Kennebunk and Kennebunkport in 2009, but the relationship has been uneasy ever since. The towns formed RSU 21 under a sweeping 2007 school consolidation law that sought to reduce the number of districts across the state.

In 2012, Arundel residents voted 1,169 to 1,044 in favor of staying in RSU 21. Nearly 75 percent of the town’s 3,000 registered voters cast ballots in that election.

Towns seeking to withdraw from a regional school unit must follow a 22-step process outlined under state law. The withdrawal plan must be approved by the Maine Department of Education and by local voters.

The June 14 ballot also includes several municipal races. Jason Nedeau and Velma Jones Hayes are seeking reelection to the Board of Selectmen. They are being challenged by Noel Holmes. Ira Camp is running unopposed for a three-year term on the RSU 21 Board of Directors.

Arundel residents also will vote on the $43 million RSU 21 budget.

The budget is up by $2.9 million, or 7.43 percent, an increase driven largely by debt service for construction projects at the high school and two elementary schools in the district. That increased debt service added more than $2 million to the budget, according to district officials. Without the debt service, the operating budget is up $916,000, or just under 3 percent, according to district officials.

The budget will add $108 per year to the tax bill for a home valued at $200,000.

Voters also will be asked if they would like to continue voting on the school budget. That question is put to voters every three years.