Editor's note: The original version of this story did not make clear it costs $1.1 million in tuition to send Arundel students to Thornton Academy Middle School.

By Suzanne Hodgson

Staff Writer

Arundel parents of students in kindergarten through 12th grade recently received a survey from RSU 21 that may help shape the relationship between the district and Thornton Academy Middle School.

School Board Member and Finance Committee Chairman John Sharood has said the proposed budget cuts can’t be sustained and the district needs to look at long-term solutions.

A few of Sharood’s long-term suggestions included closing a district school or eliminating the Thornton Academy Middle School contract.

Arundel students bused to Thornton Academy contribute to most of the district’s out-of-district tuition costs. It is the second largest line item after personnel. The district pays $1.1 million in tuition to bus Arundel students to Thornton Academy Middle School, and another $1.2 million is paid for Arundel high school students to attend Thornton Academy.

The district’s survey has 15 questions for parents with children that attend middle school or high school at Thornton Academy or district schools.

The survey includes a brief history of the Thornton Academy contract. The survey states the district would save $800,000 a year if the contract was eliminated. Arundel parents are asked which middle school they would like their children to attend and to specify the strength of their preference. Parents are also asked in the survey to rate overall satisfaction with their current school.

A second section of the survey focuses on the Thornton Academy Middle School agreement. It asks  parents which school they want their children to attend and their reasons for choosing that school.

The survey asks parents whether they want the Thornton Academy Middle School/Arundel contract to expire as planned in 2016, to renegotiate the contract in June 2011 and continue past the 2016 expiration, or terminate the contract before the end date if Arundel students have the choice to go to either Thornton Academy Middle School or Middle School of the Kennebunks.

In2006, Arundel signed a 10-year contract with Thornton Academy Middle School to provide education to all middle school students.

Two years later, Arundel residents voted 2-to-1 to join Kennebunk and Kennebunkport in a regional school unit as part of Maine’s Department of Education school consolidation efforts.

In the first year of the new district, some Arundel residents have expressed concern over losing the contract and rumors their children could be forced to attend district schools.

Arundel parents were given a variety of ways to reply to the survey, including online or through the mail. If a response from a family is not received, the team in charge of the survey will call the resident to ensure it heard from as many households as possible.

RSU21 Superintendent Andrew Dolloff said the results of the survey should be available by Monday’s school board meeting.

StaffWriter Suzanne Hodgson can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 233.