SWANVILLE - Selectmen on Thursday set a date of Dec. 17 for a municipal referendum on whether to seek withdrawal from Regional School Unit 20.

Swanville is the last of six towns from the former School Administrative District 34 to hold the preliminary vote on withdrawal.

Belfast, Belmont, Morrill, Northport and Searsmont have already approved measures to petition the state Department of Education for withdrawal from the district and formed the local withdrawal committees required by state statute.

The towns must now draft individual petitions for approval by the district and DOE. The final plan is subject to final approval at a validation referendum.

A previous bid by the former SAD 34 towns to withdraw together was scuttled in this last step back in June. Residents in all six towns favored withdrawal by a wide margin at the polls, but the results were thrown out for failing to meet the state’s minimum voter turnout. 

If the withdrawal had been successful, supporters in the the six towns had hoped to form a new school district modeled after the old SAD 34. The Belfast-based district was joined with Searsport-based SAD 56 in 2009 as part of a statewide consolidation initiative by Gov. John Baldacci.

At the time, SAD 56 comprised Frankfort, Searsport, Stockton Springs. Frankfort left the district this year to join Hampden-based RSU 22.

After the failed withdrawal vote in June, supporters were quick to restart campaigns. But a lot has changed since then, and already the conversation is much different than last time.

RSU 20 officials in November put forward seven draft plans that would close schools and shuffle students within the district as a way to save money. The reorganization proposals came after voters twice rejected the district’s proposed 2013-14 budget — the figure that was finally approved is expected to raise the education share of property taxes by over 10-percent on average.

Administrators anticipate more cuts to state aid next year and few options beyond continued staff cuts and tax increases to make up the difference. Superintendent Brian Carpenter has said district officials need to approve a reorganization plan during this school year to head off another budget crisis.

Previously, withdrawal supporters had banked on voters being fed up with the district and its slate of onerous budget cuts.

But with RSU 20 officials now considering a major internal consolidation and state aid projections for next year looking grim, many withdrawal supporters have conceded that the choice leaving or staying is no longer black-and-white. 

As the location of the middle and high schools and the major population center for the district, what Belfast decides to do will most likely determine the options for the surrounding towns. The city’s withdrawal committee is considering several options including a bid to make the city a standalone school district. The City Council has also become involved in the debate and has set aside money for a study of the options.

Kristin Collins, city attorney, said earlier this week that it would probably be at least June before Belfast holds a final validation referendum on withdrawal, and more likely November, if only to guarantee the best voter turnout.

In the consolidation plans being discussed by RSU 20 officials, Swanville’s Kermit Nickerson Elementary School is the only school that would be closed under all seven proposed courses of action.

Where Swanville would fit into a withdrawal scheme remains to be seen. The vote on Dec. 17 would start the process.

Ethan Andrews can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com