BELFAST - At the first Regional School Unit 20 board meeting since the election that effectively exploded the district, there were some questions about how the board would proceed for the rest of the school year.

Voters in Belfast, Belmont, Morrill, Searsmont and Swanville on Nov. 4 approved referendums to leave the eight-town consolidated school district and reorganize as a new, five-town unit, likely under the name RSU 71. Northport voters approved their own exit plan. The town to go solo for grades K-8, operating an independent town-run school out of the Edna Drinkwater Elementary School building and share administrative services with School Union 69, the primary school district for Appleton, Hope and Lincolnville.

When those changes take effect in July 2015, RSU 20 will be reduced to just two towns: Searsport and Stockton Springs.

On Thursday, RSU 20 board member Caitlin Hills of Belfast asked what she and her colleagues from the withdrawing towns would, or would not, be able to vote on in the interim.

The answer, according to board chairman Anthony Bagley and Superintendent Brian Carpenter, was anything except on matters related to the 2015-16 budget or renewal of the superintendent's contract. In a nutshell, they won’t be allowed to vote on things that take effect after they leave. Though, as Hills sought to clarify, they could vote on whether to put a new roof on a school or make other repairs that outlive their time in the district.

Prior to the withdrawal votes, district officials have been reticent to talk about the two-town district that would be left. Speaking after Thursday's meeting, Bagley, of Searsport, said many people have been informally crunching the numbers over the past two years, but the real cost of losing six towns remained to be seen.

"Everybody's used a percentage," he said. "You can say we [Searsport and Stockton Springs] use 25-percent, but is that a real true fact? Until you sit down and figure what you're going to do for staff and employees, you really can't spit out figures."

Despite reservations among some would-be withdrawal supporters that the mass exodus would sink the remaining towns, Bagley said he had no doubt that Searsport and Stockton Springs would find their way.

Prior to the 2009 consolidation that created RSU 20, the two towns, along with Frankfort, operated as School Administrative District 56.

Frankfort's departure from RSU 20 in 2013 dealt a financial blow to the district — the town drew $1.4 million in state aid in the previous year. But Bagley said comparing the residual two-town RSU 20 to a Frankfort-less SAD 56 would be a mistake. The state funding formula would shake out differently with only Searsport and Stockton Springs, he said.

The size and makeup of the two-town RSU 20 board will be determined by the Department of Education, Bagley said.

Unlike the nascent RSU 71, where organizers are hoping to elect a new school board in January, Searsport and Stockton Springs won’t have the benefit running a parallel administration during the transition.

Bagley said finance committee meetings for the 2015-16 budget would probably include only representatives from Searsport and Stockton Springs. Otherwise a portion of the board will be operating in a kind of lame duck capacity until July 1, 2015.

Outside groups from Searsport and Stockton Springs that have kept tabs on the post-withdrawal landscape, including members of the towns’ own withdrawal committees and the citizen group Save Our Schools would be welcome to weigh in at RSU 20 meetings, he said, but they would not have any legal authority.

The Searsport and Stockton Springs withdrawal bids were initiated earlier this year but did not go to the polls. Petitioners sought withdrawal as in response to cries from Belfast withdrawal supporters, who blamed the district’s financial problems on low enrollment in Searsport school. If the five-town withdrawal failed, many felt the Searsport District Middle School/High School complex would be at the top of the list of potential school closures.

With six towns now officially set to leave the district, Bagley said the withdrawal committees in Searsport and Stockton Springs would probably be dissolved.

"Unless Stockton Springs wants to go somewhere, or Searsport wants to go somewhere," he said. "You can't withdraw from yourself."

On Nov. 13, the current, eight-town RSU 20 board certified the election results and approved a slate of overnight field trips, one of which, Stockton Springs director Denise Dakin pointed out, had already begun. The district usually requires a long lead time on field trip approvals, but then things have been far from usual.

The board meets next on Nov. 26 in the Searsport District High School cafeteria at 6:30 p.m.

Ethan Andrews can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com