EMBDEN — An exploratory committee is considering whether Embden should withdraw from Regional School Unit 74 and pay tuition to send students to another school district. 

With the cost to run schools increasing every year, more towns in Maine are looking to withdraw from the school districts that the state encouraged towns to create between 2007 and 2008.

Paul Fortin, the chair of the exploratory committee, said Emden’s elected officials are weighing the idea due to the cost to send students to RSU 74 schools.

“It’s simply the high cost of putting students in RSU 74,” Fortin said. “It’s not 74’s fault, but the way the state of Maine decided to allocate the state money and all of the high-value municipalities get the taste of paying a lot of money for the school district.”

Along with Embden, Anson, New Portland and Solon make up the school district, which has a budget of $12.6 million for the current school year.

Anson, with 55% of the 541 students enrolled, paid the most — $2.4 million — of the local share of the district’s budget, with Solon paying $1.3 million and New Portland providing $1 million.

Embden, with a year-round population of 939 and about 80, or 15%, of enrolled students, paid more than $2.1 million from July 2023 to June 2024, and $1.9 million the previous fiscal year, according to town records.

If Embden residents decide to pursue withdrawal and pay tuition to send students to a public school, they would reportedly have to pay between $12,000 and $14,000 per student, depending on the grade level and school district Embden chooses. Other costs could be added if students with educational needs require a school that accommodates them.

“If we successfully went through with the withdrawal process, where Embden doesn’t have a school (in town), we wouldn’t be forming any kind of school system. It would be a municipal system,” Fortin said. “We are still in the beginning process.”

The withdrawal process can be difficult, expensive and time-consuming because the Maine Department of Education has a lengthy process that must be followed. School districts that have participated compare a withdrawal agreement to a divorce in which the partners’ net worth is divided.

Richmond successfully withdrew from Regional School Unit 2 in 2022, but in its first year as a school department in 2023, its education taxes in town increased 24% to pay for school spending.

In 2024, Litchfield attempted to withdraw from its Wales-based school district, but the committee did not move forward from the exploratory committee to the official process.

The exploratory committee in Embden cannot move forward with any decisions or a formal Selectboard-appointed committee without an affirmative vote of about 50 people, or 10% of the turnout in the last gubernatorial election, Fortin said. 

Reaction from the community has been mixed, he said.

“ You have a number of people who are interested in seeing their taxes go down, some people want their roads repaired and then you have some people who are concerned about how it will affect the education of their students, and I understand that,” Fortin said. 

Embden Selectboard member Wayne McLaughlin, who is also on the exploratory withdrawal committee, said he wants the town to give the committee a chance, even though the committee does not have all the answers yet.

McLaughlin said he understands the concern from parents who do not want to send their children to a different school district.

“We are paying an outrageous amount for the amount of students we have going to different schools in district,” McLaughlin said. “Some of the other towns are not paying what we are paying, and we are trying to come up with a solution.”

Mark Campbell, the superintendent of RSU 74, and Troy Dunphy, the chairman of the district’s board of directors, said they want Embden to remain in the school district.

“We are a family,” Campbell said. “I want Embden to stay within the district. Those are our kids and we take good care of them and (want) to continue taking care of them, but I understand they have a process they want to go through, and I respect that.”