VAN BUREN – The Grand Isle School Department took another step Tuesday night in exploring its options for educating 73 children in the town by meeting with the SAD 24 school board to get information on tuition costs.

One month ago, the board met with the Madawaska School Department to review tuition options. Grand Isle expects to hold a public meeting in January to inform its citizens, who will make the ultimate decision of closing their elementary school, of the possible choices.

At $4,200 per child regardless of grade level, including transportation, the SAD 24 three-year contract proposal made Monday night seemed much better financially than the proposal received last month from Madawaska. The two proposals must still be reviewed, Grand Isle Superintendent Robert Hasenfus said Wednesday.

At the present time, Grand Isle educates 32 children in pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in their own elementary school. Forty-one other students, in grades six through 12, are educated at either Madawaska or SAD 24 schools. The town pays tuition for the grade six through 12 students.

“No decision has been made,” Hasenfus said Wednesday afternoon. “This is a process that will go on until spring.

“This is a preliminary gathering of information on options,” he continued. “We will explain these options to residents in January, and a referendum vote will be held before closing the school or making any final decisions.”

Because of increasing taxes, Grand Isle residents requested last spring that other options be investigated to educate children of the town.

Using the SAD 24 tuition figures, Charles Anderson, SAD 24’s financial director, showed Grand Isle could save more than $140,000 the first year, and as much as $325,000 a year in succeeding years.

During the first year, Grand Isle would have projected one-time costs of $182,000 for severance pay, medical insurance payments and unemployment compensation for the nine employees whose jobs would be eliminated with the closing of the school and minimal upkeep of their school building.

In contrast, Madawaska’s proposal last month was $5,055 per elementary school pupil, $2,528 for kindergarten pupils who attend school for a half day five days a week, $2,022 for pre-kindergarten pupils who attend a half day four days a week, and $5,433 for students in grades 9-12.

Madawaska’s proposal did not include student transportation. That cost was estimated to be another $35,000 per year.

This year’s school budget at Grand Isle is $681,378. It is presently costing Grand Isle $5,798 per year to educate each child it has

Thomas Scott, Madawaska superintendent, said last month that Grand Isle could save $113,000 in the first year. That is $27,000 less, plus student transportation, than the SAD 24 proposal.

It has not been decided if all of Grand Isle’s students would all attend one school department or the other, or if some would attend school in Madawaska and others in Van Buren.

“We are looking at options,” Grand Isle School Board Chairman Roger Gervais said Tuesday night. “The tuitioning of our students could involve just high [school] students or all the children.”

SAD 24 officials also said they would take care of superintendent responsibilities and other clerical work for minimal cost. Grand Isle has a part-time superintendent, as well as a clerk and treasurer.

Grand Isle is sandwiched between Madawaska and Van Buren, where SAD 24 schools are located. SAD 24 also includes Hamlin and Cyr Plantation. Grand Isle was part of SAD 24 until it withdrew from the district, because of high costs, in 1986.

“You are clearly in a good position, Grand Isle being in the center of both Van Buren and Madawaska,” Anderson said. “You should be able to get a good deal to educate your children.

“Use these [the figures SAD 24 proposed] as leverage,” he continued. “You should not be paying as much tuition as you are to educate your children.”

Anderson suggested Grand Isle’s geographical local puts them “in the driver’s seat.”

The Madawaska proposal, it had been calculated, could save Grand Isle residents 11 mills of property taxes per year. The SAD 24 proposal could save taxpayers even more.

This year, Grand Isle has one of the highest property tax mills in the state at $39.75 per thousand dollars in property tax valuation.

Both the SAD 24 and Madawaska proposals were said to be “worst-case scenarios.” Savings could even be higher.

Both proposals said the tuition costs would cover all programs presently offered in their schools. The two proposals also said Grand Isle would pay extra for services such as one-on-one education, or education that would call for services outside their district.