Important: November 3 Election—OCSU to One School District

With the State Board’s approval of our Articles of Agreement, we are moving forward with the November 3 vote on the formation of the Orleans Central Unified Union School District.

In addition to voting on the formation of the new district, voters will elect the initial members of the new Orleans Central Board. If the formation vote is successful, those individuals will serve as the initial board.

The approved Articles establish a 14-member board, with two seats allocated to each of our seven communities (Albany, Barton, Brownington, Glover, Irasburg, Westmore, Village of Orleans). Candidates must be registered voters and residents of the community associated with the seat they are seeking. Because this is a modified at-large model, candidates run for a seat associated with their community, but voters throughout the proposed district vote on the candidates.

Anyone wishing to be a candidate must file the required nominating petition and written consent with Kristin Atwood, Barton Town Clerk no later than 5:00 p.m. on Monday, September 28. You may email the documents to bartontownoffice@gmail.com or you may drop off at the Barton town clerks office. Petitions need at least 30 signatures and they can be from anyone in the District, not just your town.

To have your name printed on the November 3 ballot, the completed petition and written consent must be filed with Barton town clerk by 5:00 p.m. on Monday, September 28.

We can accommodate write-in candidates but they must be qualified for that office.

The necessary candidate forms are linked here for your convenience. If you wish to be a candidate, you will need to print and complete the forms, obtain the required 30 signatures, identify the specific term you are seeking, and file the completed materials with the Barton town clerk by the deadline.

Here are the forms for you to print:
local_candidate_petition.pdf
consent_candidate_local_elections.pdf

The initial terms established in our Articles are:
Albany: 1-year and 2-year
Barton: 1-year and 3-year
Brownington: 1-year and 2-year
Glover: 1-year and 3-year
Irasburg: 1-year and 2-year
Westmore: 2-year and 3-year
Village of Orleans: 2-year and 3-year

These initial staggered terms are established in Article 10 of the approved Articles of Agreement.

We will also have hard copies of the petition and consent forms available for you to pick up at COFEC between the hours of 8:00-3:30 daily.

Please pay close attention to the filing deadline if you are interested in seeking a seat on the new board.

Thank you,
Jackie Ramsay-Tolman, Superintendent