Wiscasset and Regional School Unit 12 are off to a good, new start together as the district prepares to take on the school department's business duties, officials for the town and district said.

The deal is still being finalized, but so far looks like it will cost Wiscasset about $100,000, Interim Superintendent Wayne Dorr said. That would be about $40,000 less than pegged for those costs in the year-one budget, he said.

RSU 12 Superintendent Howie Tuttle told the Wiscasset School Committee on June 11, he knows it may look a little odd for the new department's finances to be handled by the district the town just left.

“But I realize you researched other options, and we're happy to do it. It does make the most sense, just to help you get your feet underneath you and come up with other plans for next year, I'm sure,” Tuttle said.

Dorr has been exploring the possibility of Alternative Organizational Structure (AOS) 98 picking up those services; and the possibility of Wiscasset joining the AOS, which serves the Boothbay peninsula and Georgetown.

The one-year plan with RSU 12 will do more than save money over the department having its own business office, Dorr said; it will also help maintain a relationship with the district that still has children in Wiscasset schools.

“It's about more than finances. It's about kids, as well,” he said.

The best divorces are the ones that result in a continuing relationship for the sake of the children, Committee Chairman Glen Craig said.

Next superintendent could be named June 26

The search for the school department's next superintendent is down to about three finalists, Committee Vice Chairman, and chairman-elect, Steve Smith said.

Members scheduled candidates' interviews and discussed having a closed-door session on June 26 about the hiring decision. If that executive session happens, the committee might take its public vote on the hire that night, Smith said.

The school committee agreed May 22 that the next superintendent will again be an interim one; if Wiscasset joins AOS 98 or another group of towns, it would share that group’s superintendent, committee members have said.