LITCHFIELD — A committee exploring whether the town should withdraw from Regional School Unit 4 should slow down, establish clearer priorities and not rush to get a ballot question before voters this November.

That’s according to a former superintendent who is consulting for the committee, among other recommendations in a letter received this week by the Select Board.

Jack Turcotte, the consultant, noted that there is a long list of items to accomplish before a question can be put to voters and suggested aiming for a 2025 ballot vote instead of this year.

“I have some serious concern as one who has experienced the ins and outs of the withdrawal process,” Turcotte wrote.

Even so, committee members are pressing on with a survey to the town’s 3,500 residents, asking if they want to move forward with withdrawal.

Litchfield’s Board of Selectmen approved a withdrawal exploratory committee in September 2022. Since then, the committee has explored the possibility of withdrawing from RSU 4, similarly to how the town of Richmond withdrew from Regional School Unit 2 and formed its own school district.

The main reason the group in Litchfield wants to withdraw from the school district is to have control over its own budget. But a group of parents are strongly against the district disbanding, fearing that students will have less resources and the town’s cost to run its own district will be greater.

The committee asked Turcotte, a retired superintendent who helped advise Richmond in the process, to give his opinion on the matter. In a letter addressed to the committee and the Litchfield Board of Selectmen, which they received Monday, Turcotte said he is seriously concerned about the direction of the committee and advised members to establish their priorities regarding a realistic timeline and the cost of withdrawing.

Withdrawing from a school district has been described like a marriage divorce — lawyers are involved, assets are divided and the process can be long.

The Maine Department of Education has a long, tedious process that spells out everything that has to be done in order to successfully withdraw.

If they are serious about withdrawing, Turcotte said, they have to start scheduling meetings with the RSU 4 administration and to discuss the town’s concerns; consider November 2025 as a goal to put the withdrawal question on the ballot, not November 2024; and understand that the upfront cost to explore withdrawing further with an expert would cost around $75,000 and could end up costing the district more.

“A full withdrawal process is likely to take two years,” Turcotte wrote to the committee. “If you are only investigating, the process can be accomplished more quickly. Remember, to investigate is to accomplish a good portion of the full withdrawal process. Determining cost factor is a major task. I understand that money was appropriated at the last town meeting to fund the withdrawal committee and possible activities. Litchfield may want or need to budget money for an investigation.”

In response to Turcotte’s advice, the Litchfield Withdrawal Investigation Committee sent a survey out to Litchfield residents and asked them for  “Yes” or “No” answers about moving forward. The three questions were loaded and difficult to answer with a “Yes” or “No” option. They ask residents if they want the town to have its own school district; if they are dissatisfied with how RSU 4 administration manages the district; and if local control will help residents feel more comfortable passing a budget.

Last year Litchfield voters rejected the proposed RSU 4 budget three times and narrowly approved a budget on the fourth vote. This year, in the most recent June election, Litchfield again voted the RSU 4 budget down, this time in a vote of 196 to 357.

Many parents in the Litchfield RSU 4 community do not want to withdraw and have formed their own unofficial group to communicate about the process and even help with fact-finding in the exploratory withdrawal committee.

One of the parents against the withdrawal is Dawson Davis, a Litchfield resident with three children in RSU 4. Davis said he got involved with attending meetings related to the withdrawal efforts around a year ago and does not think it’s the best move for the town or students.

Richmond, the town over from Litchfield, successfully withdrew from Regional School Unit 2 and became its own school district on July 1, 2023, but in its first year had a budget spike of 24% to taxpayers.

“So far it has only cost us the time we’ve spent in meetings, but unless something changes, it looks like soon it will start costing the town of Litchfield money too,” Davis said. “If this withdrawal goes through, it will cost us more than just millions of dollars, it will cost us in lost opportunities for our kids, and it will cost us a shared community.”

The next Litchfield Withdrawal Investigation Committee meeting is scheduled for Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at the town office at 2400 Hallowell Road, or over Zoom, which can be accessed by the town’s website.