Whether or not residents seek a town vote on the Wiscasset School Committee’s decision to close Wiscasset Primary School, a number of scenarios could play out, according to Committee Chairman Steve Smith.

If a petition gets a referendum on the ballot in December or January, and that vote overturns the decision to close the primary school, the committee would probably vote to close Wiscasset Middle School, Smith said Sept. 23.

But Smith doubts the town would go along, so that could mean another petition and another town vote, potentially knocking down the decision and leaving the committee with little time to find another way to save hundreds of thousands of dollars in year two of the school system, Smith said.

“I think we run a real danger of not being able to get anything done,” he said in Tuesday’s telephone interview.

Residents have until Oct. 15 to file a petition with 167 signatures, Wiscasset Town Clerk Christine Wolfe said.

If none is filed, the committee’s decision holds and the panel has next steps to take with the state in the closure process. The school department has to show the Maine Department of Education that there is a lack of a need to keep Wiscasset Primary open, Smith said. Given the town’s student counts, he doesn’t expect that to be a problem.

The school department also needs to file a plan for where students would attend school. At the time of the Sept. 15 closure vote, the plan being eyed was to move all of Wiscasset Primary’s grades to Wiscasset Middle School, making it a kindergarten through eighth grade school. That hasn’t changed, but the committee might still look at something explored months go, moving grades seven and eight, or possibly only grade eight, to Wiscasset High School, Smith said.

Smith and Interim Superintendent of Schools Lyford Beverage, in a separate interview, urged anyone considering a petition on the Wiscasset Primary closure to contact them for information on how to word it according to state law.

As the time frame for a petition passed the quarter pole, Wiscasset Primary School Principal Mona Schlein said some parents have expressed concern about the committee’s decision and have been asking where they could sign a petition.

Schlein said she had not heard yet from the school department on what the future could hold for her job if the school closes next year.

“I’m just loving being here and advocating for the students,” she said. “The rest is peripheral.”

Related: School Committee votes 3-2 to close Wiscasset Primary