BELFAST — A bid by six towns to withdraw from Regional School Unit 20 failed in Tuesday's referendum on a technicality requiring a minimum voter turnout. But it may not be off the table for two years as supporters initially believed.  

Voters in Belfast, Belmont, Morrill, Northport, Searsmont and Swanville cast their ballots June 11 on a plan to collectively withdraw from the school district. If successful, the vote would have been the first step in a plan supporters hoped would effectively undo the 2009 consolidation of Belfast-based School Administrative District 34 and Searsport-based SAD 56.  

The vote was nullified based on a provision of the law requiring that the total voter turnout equal or exceed 50-percent of the number from the last gubernatorial election. That mark was hit in only one of the six towns. The tallies, however, supported the withdrawal by a wide enough margin to trigger another provision — one that supporters had lost sight of in their efforts to clear the 50-percent hurdle.

According to the statute governing withdrawal, a municipality within an RSU "may not petition for withdrawal within 2 years after the date of a municipal vote on a withdrawal agreement if the agreement received less than 60% of the votes cast."

Put differently, if more than 60 percent of the ballots cast support withdrawal, the two-year waiting period doesn't apply.

"Yes" votes on Tuesday accounted for over 70 percent of the totals in all of the former SAD 34 municipalities. Belmont and Morrill topped 80-percent, and Searsmont logged a landslide 91-percent vote in favor of withdrawal.

"There is no prohibition against bringing this issue back to the polls within two years since it appears each town's withdrawal vote passed by more than 60% (notwithstanding the turnout problems)," Belfast City Attorney Kristin Collins wrote in an e-mail to withdrawal committee members on Wednesday. An attempt reach Collins for further comment on Thursday morning was unsuccessful.

The 60-percent clause, which was not discussed in the lead up to the referendum, surprised some of those most knowledgeable of the withdrawal process.

"We reviewed it briefly last late summer or fall," said Belfast City Councilor and withdrawal committee member Eric Sanders, "[but] it had been so long ago, that the idea of the 50-percent mark became the thing we were looking at."

Sanders said the current plan is to bring the findings to the Belfast City Council on June 17 and in the meantime seek opinions from Select Boards in the surrounding towns.

"What we want to know, hopefully by Tuesday night, is: Are the towns' selectmen still in, and if so, do they think they can harbor a 50-percent vote by November," he said.

Sanders expressed hope that it wouldn't require starting from scratch, but said maybe those steps could be navigated faster this time based on the work already done by local withdrawal committees. But he also said he did not know the process as required by the Department of Education.

"I don't think what we offered as a plan was ignored," Sanders said. "I think it was embraced. Clearly people want to withdraw." 

Reached by phone Thursday, Jim Rier, deputy commissioner of the state Department of Education, said that November would be a "very aggressive" timeline, because the process would in fact start from scratch, with each town having to hold a referendum, form withdrawal committees and have a plan approved by the DOE. So basically, the process would go back to where it was a year ago, he said.

"There is no provision for a revote," said Rier.

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Ethan Andrews can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com