Groton - The Representative Town Meeting's decision is now the Board of Education's dilemma. The solution is most likely to fall into the laps of middle school students, staff and parents.

Defeated badly in the May 2 referendum on its $133 million Phase II school improvement program, the school board suffered another defeat Wednesday night when an RTM vote determined that the district would have to get by in the 2011-12 school year with the same $72.6 million amount that it started with in its current spending plan.

The zero-increase vote denied the school board a $1.5 million, 2.1 percent budget increase, which the Town Council proposed last month after having whittled the district's $74.8 million request down to $74.2 million.

RTM member Archie Swindell, chairman of the RTM's education committee, proposed the $74.2 million number, which never came to a vote. On Tuesday, Swindell outlined the potential fallout from a zero increase.

"The argument for zero is that it would force consolidation of a middle school. The argument against it is that the consolidation would be done in a forced, or crashing manner. Groton has closed schools before under budget duress. It hasn't always worked out for the best."

In its "Summary of Budget Cut Options," the school board contends that a cut of between $1 million and $2 million would have a "major impact on education programs." They include either eliminating full-day kindergarten or closing a middle school.

The document goes on to state that the populations in West Side or Cutler schools could not be increased without making major renovations and moving some temporary classrooms.

"Numerous code and zoning restrictions could prevent this option from being considered, plus, temporary classrooms are 20 to 40 years old."

In an interview late Wednesday, Superintendent Paul Kadri talked about the board's immediate steps, which would likely focus on closing Cutler. Also, he said, a plan needs to be in place before the school year ends and while parents and staff are still available.

"I think (board chairman) Brian (Shirvelle) wants to meet Monday with a goal of finalizing a plan by May 23," Kadri said. "Whatever we do will be big and require a lot of work. We have to figure out how to do this without creating chaos. June 17 is graduation day. After that, vacations will make it difficult to communicate what's going on."

Kadri said a decision made by May 23 would be only the beginning.

"We will still work all summer to execute it," he said. "This is such a deep cut that it might limit our options."

c.potter@theday.com