ANDOVER — Over 30 people attended a public hearing Tuesday evening at the Town Hall to discuss an upcoming referendum on whether to withdraw from SAD 44.

The withdrawal process began in 2011, after the SAD 44 board voted to close Andover Elementary School, citing the extra expense to maintain the nearly 100-year-old building and declining student enrollment. There are about 35 students in kindergarten to grade five who attend the school.

Selectman Susan Merrow said earlier this year that rural towns die when they don’t have local schools, home values drop 25 percent, and there’s no new economic development. Towns that control their own schools, she said, control their own costs and can grow their economies.

The other district towns are Bethel, Greenwood, Newry and Woodstock.

Andover residents raised an additional $214,000 to keep the school open in 2011-12.

In 2012, residents voted to raise an additional $68,000 to keep the school open for the 2012-13 school year. They also petitioned to form a withdrawal committee and begin the process of withdrawing from SAD 44.

This past January, residents went to the polls to vote on a withdrawal agreement but the effort fell eight votes short of the two-thirds majority required for passage.

The second vote is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 24.

One resident at the public hearing asked the withdrawal committee how the current withdrawal agreement differed from the previous one.

Part-time resident and pro bono legal adviser Steve Hudspeth said one of the major changes in the new agreement was the amount of money the town of Andover would have to pay SAD 44 to “get out of our obligations.”

“We reduced the number from $137,000 to $122,000,” Hudspeth said. “That’s the biggest thing I can think of. The rest of the changes are just cosmetic, with small changes to dates and numbers.”

Another resident said they were worried about whether the town would have enough money for a new school board if the town withdraws.

Selectman Keith Farrington said, “it was keeping him awake at night.

“You’d need to have money in that account to get the school board running, and right now, we don’t have that,” he said.

Withdrawal Committee member Sharon Hutchins said, “I took it upon myself to send out some pledge forms, and as of today, I’ve raised $7,000 in pledges. That should help.”

A resident, who was later identified by Hudspeth as David Percival, said, “I took it upon myself to meet with some of the larger taxpayers in the town. The analogy is, ‘Do you want to pay $25 now, and $5 for the next 10 years, or pay $20 a year for the next 10 years?

“The others aren’t here to represent themselves, but if Andover withdraws from SAD 44, we will donate $150,000 for the startup costs,” Percival said.

After a moment of silence, Hutchins said, “Well, I guess that brings us up to $157,000.”

The attendees burst into applause.

Hudspeth lauded Percival and the other taxpayers for their “generosity” to the town.

According to a cost analysis worksheet drafted by the Andover Withdrawal Committee, leaving the district will not increase taxes significantly, if at all.

“If we withdraw from SAD 44, our last payment will be made in June 2015,” the worksheet said. “Then, we start accumulating for our own school costs, beginning in July 2015.”

The worksheet also said the total annual payments for tuitioned students would be $464,000 if the town withdrew.

Hudspeth later clarified that the numbers were tentative and were subject to change.

Withdrawal Committee Chairwoman Paula Lee said there will be another informational meeting at 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 13, at the Town Hall.

Polls for the Sept. 24 referendum will be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Town Hall.

mdaigle@sunjournal.com