Portage voters favor withdrawal
By Scott Mitchell Johnson
Staff Writer
PORTAGE LAKE — After a year of committee meetings, public hearings and referendums, the town of Portage Lake is officially withdrawing from SAD 32.
Last Tuesday voters were asked — for the final time — “Do you favor the withdrawal of the town of Portage Lake from SAD 32 subject to the terms and conditions of the withdrawal agreement dated as of May 1, 2012?”
The referendum was approved by a vote of 110 “Yes” to 17 “No.”
“Over half of our voting population turned out,” said Town Manager Hollie Umphrey. “We opened the polls at 10 a.m. and it was a steady flow of voters until we closed at 8 p.m. There was no lull. I would say that 90 percent of them were there for the school referendum.”
For the students who live in Portage Lake, they won’t notice any difference in their education.
“Effective July 1, students will be tuitioned to SAD 32. Other than that, nothing changes for the students,” said Umphrey. “If a student was in softball, they’ll still be in softball. If they were in band, they will be in band. Nothing changes from the perspective of the education for the kids.
“What will change is that the town of Portage Lake will be paying a tuition base of between $8,200-$8,400 per student,” she said.
The idea to withdraw from the district and tuition the town’s students was solely one of dollars and cents.
“In four years, Portage Lake has seen its school budget jump from an average of $356,000 to $627,000,” said Umphrey. “We’re paying $627,000 to educate 35 students. That equates to almost $20,000 per student, and the state average for towns our size is approximately $8,600. We’re a small village, and we have a predominant population of retirees which makes it really tough. It was more than what they could handle. Over 60 percent of their tax bill was going to education.
“Because of the separation, we should see around a $200,000 savings. While the tuition cost would be paid through residents’ property taxes, as well as state funding, the students wouldn’t see any difference in their education,” she said. “Their education is of the utmost importance, and we want to make sure that still continues. The only thing different will be the town’s portion of the school budget, but this will definitely be a savings.”
Umphrey said the million-dollar question in town has been whether taxes will go down as a result of the withdrawal.
“We’re going to do everything we can to make that happen,” she said, “but we’ve got to look at the other infrastructure here in town, like roads, which need some major repair. We’ll do what we can to hold it as is or decrease taxes if we can.”
Also at the polls, voters elected three members to the Portage Lake school board of directors.
Melissa Boutot was elected to a three-year term with 118 votes. Dave Farnum (62 votes) will fill a two-year seat, while Gerald Cormier (73 votes) was chosen to fill a one-year term.
Directors met June 15 to present a proposed school budget to the selectmen. A town budget meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 26. A final referendum vote on the proposed $665,866 budget will be held Friday, June 29. Polls will be open from noon-7 p.m.
“From here forward will be a new beginning for the Portage Lake school department, which they haven’t had in years,” said Umphrey, noting that Education Commissioner Stephen Bowen has decided that the withdrawal issue can be revisited in five years. “Now we’ll start to test the waters a little bit to figure out roles and responsibilities — the separation of duties between select board and school board.”
The town is presently advertising for the position of superintendent. Umphrey hopes to have the position filled by July 1, the start of the school department’s fiscal year.
