District voters approved the amendment to Washington Central's Articles of Agreement by 346 votes, the district announced. School-closure questions are now settled district-wide.
Washington Central Unified Union School District voters have approved the amendment to the district's Articles of Agreement, 1,711 to 1,365, according to results posted on the district's website.
The results were shared in a notice signed by School Board Chair Diane Nichols-Fleming, serving as district clerk designee. "We recognize that the outcome of this vote will be received in many different ways across our community," the notice reads. "As always, our commitment to serving our communities, our staff, and most importantly, our students, remains our highest priority."
The 346-vote margin — 55.6 percent of the 3,076 ballots cast — answers the question the Gazette's pre-vote explainer laid out: whether the whole district, or any single town, gets to settle a school closure. Under the amended articles, school-closure questions are decided by district-wide vote. See Before August 11: What Washington Central Is Actually Deciding for the full background.
Turnout was broad by recent district standards: the 3,076 ballots represent roughly 37 percent of the approximately 8,300 registered voters district-wide cited in the Gazette's pre-vote reporting. In February, 610 votes across Calais and Worcester had settled the configuration question for the whole district.
The district's notice does not address next steps under the amended articles.
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