The Johns Bay Coastal Alliance Education Service Center Board unanimously approved the first two hires for the new school system on Thursday, Feb. 5.
In two separate votes following a brief executive session, the board approved the hiring of Bristol Consolidated School Principal Jennifer Ribeiro as the organization’s superintendent and curriculum coordinator and named AOS 93 Executive Director of Finance and Operations Peter Nielsen as its executive director.
Ribeiro and Nielsen are the first officials hired for the two-town education service center. Bristol and South Bristol will leave AOS 93 as of July 1.
In a prepared statement, Johns Bay Board Chair Christian Cotz and Vice Chair Katherine Thompson expressed confidence in the new leadership team.
“Together, Mrs. Ribeiro and Mr. Nielsen bring a powerful combination of educational leadership and operational expertise,” Cotz and Thompson said. “We are confident their partnership will help us build a responsive, efficient, and student-centered education service center that reflects the values and aspirations of our communities.”
Ribeiro began her education career in 1992 as a classroom teacher at Great Salt Bay Community School in Damariscotta where she taught grades two through four and served as a part-time curriculum coordinator. She has been the principal at BCS since 2008.
“Her thoughtful leadership, deep experience, and steadfast dedication to students are recognized and respected by educators far beyond our local community,” Cotz and Thompson said.
Ribeiro said she is excited by the prospect of being the inaugural superintendent for the new education service center. While preparing to interview for the position, Ribeiro said she did a lot of professional self-reflection and thought long and hard about the work involved.
“AOS 93, the former Union 74, is just a fabulous place to work in general,” she said. “I feel gratitude for being able to work in these school systems for all these years. The other thing I am excited about is that I have seen the challenges and the benefits of being in Union 74 and AOS 93, and we can use that to build something is responsive to the people of Bristol and South Bristol.”
Nielsen has served as finance director for AOS 93 since 2022. His professional background includes private enterprise and higher education, including serving on the founding leadership team that launched Vermont College of Fine Arts and working as entrepreneur-in-residence at Saint Joseph’s College to help restructure revenue operations.
“His talent for making complex school finance issues clear and understandable has been an invaluable asset to our school communities and local taxpayers,” Cotz and Thompson said.
Referring to the second mountain concept detailed by writer David Brooks, Nielsen said at this point in his life and career he is devoted to serving the public good. Public education and rural Maine are both very important to him personally, Nielsen said, and he is committed to working to ensure public education in Maine continues to thrive in the years ahead.
“I believe the ESC is the most flexible model available that allows for local town governance yet also the ability to collaborate and find regional solutions to make public education efficient and high quality,” he said.
Both Ribeiro and Nielsen remain in their current jobs through the end of the school’s fiscal year, June 30. Both will attend to matters related to Johns Bay Coastal Alliance in and around their current duties.
The Johns Bay Coastal Alliance Education Service Center Board will meet next at BCS, at 2153 Bristol Road in Bristol, at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 25. For more information, go to johnsbayschools.org.
