The defeat of a two-town middle school to serve Auburn and Candia has left Auburn to evaluate a possible new school proposal on its own while Candia officials say they’re done making plans for now.

In Candia, the past five years have seen three school proposals shot down, including the recent failure of a tuition contract which could have sent that town’s sixth- through eighthgrade students to a proposed Auburn middle school for 20 years. Although the proposed school had been a topic of discussion in both towns for three years, it garnered only 278 “yes” votes to 766 against in Candia, making an Auburn vote moot.

Following the vote, Candia School Board Chairman Karen Smith said her town will likely not revive a major school improvement proposal for the near future. Officials in both towns said Candia’s lack of representation at the proposed school and the uncertainty that their middle-school teachers would be hired to teach there were likely the biggest voter turn-offs.

“I guess it just goes to show you that people have a hard time spending money in a town where they’re not going to have a say,” said Auburn Budget Committee Chairman Lew Theos. “I think people also didn’t like the fact that there was no guarantee (Candia’s) teachers would get hired.”

Candia School Board member Ingrid Byrd, who had been staunchly opposed to the project, said its overwhelming defeat surprised even her. She too agreed that Candia’s lack of representation at the new school was probably its proverbial nail in the coffin.

Byrd said the nationwide news of poor economic forecasts which coincided with the final vote may have convinced more people that the proposal was badly timed.

“Gas is over $3 a gallon, and people are just looking at the realities of life right now,” she said.

Although the $25 million proposal was never presented to Auburn’s voters, the project still maintains a life of sorts after voters approved School Board member Kathi Porter’s request for $62,000 to continue work on a new school design. Porter said the plan for a two-town school is definitely out of the question for now, but the additional money leaves the door open for looking at alternative designs for a building that might eventually replace Auburn Village School.

While the scope of the new project has not been determined yet, Porter said that one concept that is definitely out of the question is building an Auburn-only middle school, a venture that she said would be too costly for the town. Porter said that another two-town partnership is also unlikely.

“A lot of people I’ve talked to said we need K-through-eight, Auburn only,” she said. “And there’s also the question of what we’ll do with AVS -- Do we sell it? Do we give it to the town? Will we lose revenue if we give it to the town? These are all things we’ll have to consider.” Porter said she expects discussions on new school options to begin this summer.