LIBERTY – A question on the town’s possible withdrawal from SAD 3 may not appear before voters Tuesday.

The question was put on the ballot when 52 registered voters signed a petition circulated by Selectman Wade Knowlton and his son, Lenny Knowlton. Petitioners wanted the town to form a committee to explore leaving SAD 3.

The Nov. 2 vote would not have authorized the withdrawal, First Selectman Judy Fuller said Wednesday.

If the question were passed, a committee would be created to study the issue. The question, if approved, would also provide up to $5,000 in town funds to pay for the committee’s work.

Tuesday night at a meeting at the Walker Elementary School, district officials questioned the wording of the ballot question, Fuller said. Fuller was not at the meeting, but on Wednesday she contacted the Maine Municipal Association, which advised her the wording was not precise enough.

“They recommend we withdraw the ballot,” she said. “They didn’t like the wording of it.”

On Wednesday afternoon, Fuller was waiting to hear from Town Attorney John Carver of Belfast and had not yet contacted the Knowltons. She was reluctant to remove the question from the ballot, she said, not wanting to appear to ignore the wishes of the petitioners.

“We have a legitimate petition before the Board of Selectmen,” she said.

Rather than vote to form a committee to informally investigate withdrawal, Fuller said the first vote triggers a process dictated by state statute. That process mandates creation of a committee composed of an SAD 3 board member, a municipal officer, a member of the group filing the petition and a member of the general public.

The committee must meet within 30 days of the vote, then begin to create a detailed plan for withdrawal. The plan must cover 19 points, everything from school bus routes to school lunch menus.

Fuller said petitioners hope to save money by leaving SAD 3 and perhaps take over use of the Walker Elementary School to provide kindergarten through eighth-grade education. The town possibly would pay tuition for high school students to attend SAD 3’s Mount View High School in Thorndike or Belfast Area High School, Erskine Academy in China, Medomak Valley High School in Waldoboro or Camden Hills Regional High School in Rockport.

Liberty might join with neighboring Palermo, which operates its own kindergarten through eighth-grade system, for elementary and middle-level education, Fuller said.

Liberty

Voting hours: 10 a.m.-8 p.m., town office.

Registered voters: 244 (R); 195 (D); 14 (G); 204 (I).

State Senate District 23 candidates: Peter P. Misluk Jr. (D), Carol Weston (R).

State House District 45

candidates: Brett Bowser (R), John Piotti (D).

Waldo County probate judge candidates: Susan W. Longley (D), Randolph A. Mailloux (R).

Waldo Regional Technical Center: $1 million bond issue for renovations and $500,000 for expansion.