STARKS — A letter from the superintendent of School Administrative District 59 to parents of Starks students includes incorrect information on school choice next year, the chairman of the committee that researched withdrawal from the district said Wednesday.

Ernest Hilton, chairman of the Starks Withdrawal Committee, said he has sent a letter to SAD 59 Superintendent Todd LeRoy asking him to retract the original letter and to compose a new one with correct information.

Hilton said the overall message of LeRoy’s letter is that parents of Starks students who want to continue attending school in Madison must notify the district by May 11. Hilton said there is no deadline for Starks parents to decide where their children will attend classes next year, let alone one that is just three weeks away.

Starks residents on Tuesday voted 72-5 to formally withdraw from the Madison-based school district and to send their children to Farmington schools. To finalize that vote, residents in Farmington’s Mt. Blue Regional School District will vote Tuesday whether to accept Starks’ request to join.

Students from Starks have at least until June 30, 2013, to determine which school district they wish to attend, Hilton said.

“In the meantime, they could, at least theoretically, go back and forth any number of times,” Hilton wrote in his letter to LeRoy.

Hilton said the information has been provided at all public meetings and forums during the withdrawal debate. He said Wednesday he does not know why LeRoy would have sent out information that is incorrect.

LeRoy is on vacation this week and did not return calls to his office or cellphone, but said in an email he would return Friday and could comment then.

Hilton said his committee’s information is based on state law and on the formal agreement for separation from SAD 59, which was ratified by the SAD 59 board and Education Commissioner Stephen Bowen.

LeRoy’s letter states that SAD 59 is charged with determining what the projected enrollment will be next year and to give parents a choice to stay in the district or go with the Farmington district, if that vote is approved. An enrollment form is attached to the letter with a May 11 deadline.

“If you opt for your child not to attend MSAD 59 at this time, you will not be able to reverse this decision and your child will attend the district chosen for them for the duration,” LeRoy’s letter states.

Residents in Starks would see the overall amount the town pays in school taxes drop $97,297 in the coming year, based on the Mt. Blue budget proposal that anticipates the merger being approved.

Starks traditionally contributes about 5.7 percent of the SAD 59 budget. The remaining communities of Madison, Athens and Brighton Plantation are slated to each see a small increase in their contributions.

Madison will likely pay about $66,000, or 1.4 percent, more. Athens, $2,294, or 0.4 percent more; and Brighton, $836, or 0.7 percent, more.

If the merger is approved, Starks selectmen will appoint an interim school board member to represent the town on the Mt. Blue board until a permanent member can be elected.

Doug Harlow — 612-2367

dharlow@centralmaine.com

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