FARMINGTON — After more than two years of planning and worrying, many Starks residents will be relieved to finally know they will send their children to Mt. Blue Regional School District, a Starks selectman said.

Residents in the Farmington-based school district voted Tuesday 321-34 to accept Starks request to join them, marking the final approval needed for the merger to move forward.

The town in Somerset County had already voted to secede from its Madison-based school district, leaving many residents anxious to find out where they would be able to educate their children, Selectman Joe Miller said, in a phone interview in anticipation of Tuesday’s vote results.

A majority of residents and town officials viewed joining Mt. Blue as the best option, delivering them “far superior” educational opportunities than they had at School Administrative District 59, he said.

Miller and his two fellow selectmen spearheaded the merger and relied on support from a lot of town residents, he said. Starks residents voted 72-5 last week to ask Mt. Blue to approve the merger.

With the merger approved, Starks selectmen will appoint an interim school board member to represent the town on the Mt. Blue board. That decision is expected to be made at the selectmen’s meeting Monday, Miller said, declining to name potential candidates.

The interim school board member will participate in upcoming votes on the proposed Mt. Blue budget for the coming year. A permanent member from Starks will be elected by residents once a vote is scheduled in the near future.

If the merger had failed, Starks would have had to devise an alternative plan to educate their children in area school districts.

But because Starks is joining the school district, it will create financial benefits for the original nine Mt. Blue school district towns as well as Starks, according to Mt. Blue school district Superintendent Michael Cormier.

The merger is expected to add about $400,000 in revenue to the Mt. Blue budget proposal for the coming year, with that money helping to offset the shortfalls in other revenue streams.

The added revenue from Starks is primarily from increases in state subsidies because 50 to 60 new students would attend the school district, which has an enrollment of 2,329.

About $53,000 of that added revenue would be spent to add a bus and driver to transport the new students, with the remainder going toward general school operations, according to the Mt. Blue budget proposal.

Even with the added revenue from the merger, the proposed 2012-13 budget for Mt. Blue school district would increase the overall amount towns pay in school taxes by 4.3 percent, or $439,340.

Residents in Starks would see the overall amount the town pays in school taxes drop $97,297 in the coming year, based on the budget proposal. That drop is compared to what the overall amount the town paid in school taxes at SAD 59.

Industry is the only original Mt. Blue town for which school taxes drop under the proposed budget. The other towns’ shares would increase by amounts ranging from $9,665 in Temple to an $180,790 spike in Wilton.

Deliberations continue this week on whether to adjust the Mt. Blue budget proposal and the school board is expected to set a final iteration by Tuesday, May 1, preparing to send the issue to voters.

The merger, however, requires the Mt. Blue school board must change to a weighted voting system for its decisions. The board is growing from 15 members to 16 with the addition of the Starks members.

Mt. Blue school board decisions had been made by a majority vote, but the weighted system means each board member will carry a percentage of the vote based on the population he or she represents.

Bill Reid, who represents New Sharon on the board, said Tuesday he supports the merger and has no problem with the change to the weighted voting system. He added that school board members have traditionally voted based on their individual principles, rather than the community they represent.

According to the merger plan, one Starks member will have 3.5 percent of the overall vote, one Chesterville member, 7.4 percent; five Farmington members 42 percent; one Industry member, 5 percent; one New Sharon member, 7.6 percent; one New Vineyard member, 4.1 percent; one Temple member, 2.9 percent; one Vienna member, 3.1 percent; one Weld member, 2.3 percent; and three Wilton members, 22.2 percent.

Except for Vienna in Kennebec County, the other original school district towns are in Franklin County.

The school district’s budget meeting will be scheduled for either May 21 or 22 at the district’s high school in Farmington, with a validation vote by residents expected May 24.

David F. Robinson — 861-9287

[email protected]