Burlington to hear sides on leaving SAD 31

BURLINGTON – Residents will have a chance to discuss the town’s current educational costs and the potential for withdrawing from SAD 31 at a public hearing at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 20, in the town office.

The public hearing is the first step in the potential withdrawal process that was initiated by a November petition signed by 48 residents interested in withdrawing from the district.

The selectmen will have the opportunity to explain the issue, according to First Selectman Dennis Kingman.

“I want to present the people with the selectmen’s concerns about the cost of schooling and the anticipated increase in the school budget this year,” Kingman said Thursday in a phone interview.

A town of roughly 320, Burlington has an annual budget of about $300,000, 76 percent of which is its share of the SAD 31 budget, Kingman said last month.

After a rise in the local education assessment for this year, the town’s mill rate jumped from $12.05 per $1,000 of valuation to $15.75, he said.

Preliminary estimates put the town’s mill rate at close to $20 for next year, he said.

While the town’s local educational assessment has grown by 54 percent in the last seven years, the town’s student enrollment has been on the decline since its peak of 80 in 1992. The town now has 39 students in the district.

Withdrawal from the district would necessitate the tuitioning of students to SAD 31 or another district, which could mean estimated savings of $50,000 to $55,000 a year, Kingman said last month. Reducing the financial burden on residents is the impetus for starting the process, Kingman said Thursday.

“Most of the population here in town is aged and living on fixed incomes, and it becomes an issue of affordability with the tax rate right now,” Kingman said Thursday.

Potential savings from withdrawal will be a topic of next week’s public hearing, as will making sure residents understand the withdrawal process, Kingman said.

On Feb. 20, the vote of the majority of residents will determine whether a committee should be formed to investigate educational options and develop a potential withdrawal agreement with an attorney, he said.

If the committee is formed, a second public hearing will be scheduled later in the spring for the committee to present its findings, Kingman said.

Two-thirds of voters will need to approve the withdrawal from SAD 31 in a second local referendum roughly a month later, he said. Ultimately, Commissioner Susan Gendron of the Department of Education would need to approve of the plans.