Depending on how Freeport votes Nov. 4 on withdrawal from Regional School Unit 5, the wheels quickly will be set in motion for some big projects: either the formation of a Freeport School Committee or the execution of a $14.6 million bond to renovate and enlarge Freeport High School.

Should Freeport withdraw, the Town Council, which has scheduled an organizational meeting for Monday, Nov. 10, will set the date for an election – sometime in January – for a new School Committee. That committee would have to quickly work on a 2015-2016 Freeport schools budget, and begin the search for a superintendent.

If Freeport remains with RSU 5, the bond passed by residents of Freeport, Durham and Pownal a year ago will become viable once more. The renovation was rendered dormant when Freeport residents voted last December to explore withdrawal.

Town Manager Peter Joseph said last week that the town charter might have to be amended to accommodate a Freeport School Committee. Freeport had been a stand-alone school district until 2009, when the RSU 5 merger took place. The town charter that prevailed from 2005 until then included stipulations for a Freeport School Committee.

“The question is, do we want to put any of that stuff back in the charter?” Joseph said. “Otherwise, we operate by general state law. There’s talk right now about charter amendments.”

The 2005 town charter called for seven School Committee members, while the state mandates only three. The committee was to meet at least once a month. The committee was charged to submit to the town manager a five-year capital budget at least two months prior to submitting its operating budget.

As to the election of a School Committee, Joseph said that the town would need to provide notice to the public about when people can take out nomination papers and when they would be due.

The process of adopting the school budget would change, Joseph said. The School Committee would put together a budget and submit it to the Town Council, which would have the option of amending it. Freeport residents would then conduct a straight up-or-down vote on the budget, with no amendments possible. The district meeting, during which residents are allowed to amend line items in the budget, would be eliminated.

“Instead of having a direct democracy, you have a representative democracy,” Joseph said.

Were withdrawal approved, the positions of the six Freeport members on the RSU 5 Board of Directors would cease to exist on June 30, 2015 – the same day as the dissolution of the school unit. In the meantime, Freeport board members would not be able to vote on the 2015-2016 RSU 5 budget or contracts, Joseph said.

“If you have three years left on your term,” Joseph said, “it doesn’t matter.”

Joseph said he has not heard anyone show interest in serving on a Freeport School Committee. However, RSU 5 board member Peter Murray, chairman of the Withdrawal Committee, confirmed that he would be interested. Murray said he also knows of other qualified people who would be willing to serve on the School Committee.

The Freeport school superintendent search would begin as soon as the School Committee gets organized in January, choosing a chairman and appointing a committee. The RSU 5 directors, meanwhile, will have already begun its superintendent search in November. RSU 5 administrators have been advised that the field of superintendent prospects is thin, and school units in need of a superintendent should begin that quest as soon as possible.

As for the high school renovation, William Michaud, co-superintendent of RSU 5, said that the board would begin to proceed with the high school renovation project at its Nov. 19 meeting, should Freeport remain with RSU 5.

Nelson Larkins, school board chairman, said, “I expect that the board would first, quickly, review the scope of the plan. Revised student population figures need to be reviewed to see if there can be a downsize in the project or other necessary or wanted changes. A review of current costs would also need to occur. This might be handled by a new or reformed Building Committee, but the idea would be to complete the process quickly so the actual project could be started. Only after this would it go out to bid.”

The 20-year bond passed by voters in the three towns last November would fund a renovation of Freeport High’s oldest section, built in 1961. The project would include energy-efficient roofing and windows, and a new entrance.

The project also would include a two-story addition. The outdated industrial arts building would be torn down. The addition would include classrooms, a new cafeteria and space for the music program.

If Freeport does vote to withdraw, the addition might not be in the cards. Lyndon Keck of PDT Architects of Portland, who planned the original project, has estimated a scaled-down renovation – to be paid only by Freeport residents – would cost between $6.5 million and $9 million.

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