Voters in six Maine towns reject school district consolidation plan

Voters in six communities on Mount Desert Island rejected a long-proposed reorganization of their public school system on Tuesday. The plan, which would have merged the schools of Bar Harbor, Mount Desert, Southwest Harbor, Tremont, Trenton, and the Cranberry, Frenchboro, and Swan’s Islands into a single Regional School Unit, failed in four of the member towns. Results collected by the Mount Desert Islander show that Bar Harbor, Mount Desert, Southwest Harbor, and Tremont voted against the measure.

The Mount Desert Island region currently operates as Alternative Organizational Structure 91, or AOS 91. This setup allows towns to retain local control over their schools while complying with state consolidation laws enacted in 2007 by then-Governor John Baldacci. Most of these structures have since dissolved or reorganized, leaving only eight AOS systems in the state, according to the Maine School Management Association. Superintendent Michael Zboray noted that the current structure requires the region to pass 10 separate budgets each year, a process he described as operationally redundant.

School officials argued that a single regional board would reduce administrative duplication and provide weighted voting representation. They stated that the change would make access to education more equitable and allow for specialized services that are difficult to staff in small schools. The proposal also included plans to spread out the debt for a new elementary school currently under construction in Bar Harbor.

Zboray said the close margins in the vote surprised him but indicated a need for continued conversation. Major concerns raised during the process included how towns would secure voting representation on a new regional board. Some residents also felt the plan did not go far enough in reorganizing student placement, such as by creating a middle school. Others pushed back on the proposal to distribute the cost of the new Bar Harbor elementary school across the entire region.

The rejection means the six communities will continue operating under the AOS 91 structure. If elected officials choose to attempt a reorganization again, the process would have to start from the beginning. Zboray said he would work with local officials in that event and noted that the recent vote provided useful data on local priorities.

The current administrative model involves multiple committees, boards, and administrative units governing local schools, along with a larger coordinating board. While the specific proposal to form an RSU has failed, the underlying desire for efficiency and reduced budget duplication remains a topic of discussion among local leaders.