The Bristol School Board voted unanimously to begin the process of withdrawing from AOS 93 and forming a two-town education service center with South Bristol at a meeting on Monday, Aug. 11.
The South Bristol School Board previously voted unanimously in favor of proceeding with this process at their meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 5.
Emile Lugosch, vice chair of the Bristol School Board and restructuring committee member spoke about the educational differences between towns, which he said is the reason behind the board’s decision.
“South Bristol and Bristol together don’t have the votes to change things, and we have a different view here on this side of Route 1 as far as education goes,” Lugosch said. “(Nobleboro and Jefferson) are more financially driven for a number of reasons, but they are, and so we’ve come to the conclusion we could form an ESC.”
Forming an education service center, Bristol and South Bristol will be able to share resources and services they provide that are normally provided by an AOS.
According to Lugosch, the application to withdraw from the AOS and start an education service center has two parts, the first being a letter of intent from the towns to the Maine Department of Education. Due at the end of August, the letter must contain organization contact information, an operational date, identification of the school administrative units applying, and a proposed name for the education service center, which the restructuring committee has determined will be John’s Bay after the body of water that separates Bristol and South Bristol.
The second part of the application, which is due at the end of October, involves the towns submitting a detailed interlocal agreement and operational plan.
AOS 93 Director of Finance Peter Nielsen called the restructuring a “simple and elegant solution” to the problems the towns are facing.
“One of the great things about an ESC is that you just remain completely (in) local control,” said Nielsen. “You are still the town of Bristol making your own financial decisions. You just essentially build a contractor that you and South Bristol build together and own together.”
Although the school board was in agreement to begin the process, a member of the public, Chuck Hansen, expressed frustration about the transparency and communication of the restructuring committee’s activities.
“I’ve (been to) a lot of these meetings and restructuring comes up every time,” Hansen said. “I go back a whole year and get it from Emile every time, ‘no meeting’ … and suddenly, here it is.”
Hansen expressed concern over the seeming lack of people at the South Bristol School Board meeting who knew what the restructuring committee was planning.
“I’m not arguing against the concept,” Hansen said. “The concept is good. It’s just a process … and the questions they were asking (in South Bristol) indicate that they didn’t know what was going on.”
Hansen also asked whether withdrawing from the AOS would require a town vote. Nielsen said it would not.
The next Bristol School Board meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m. at the school on Tuesday, Sept. 23. For more information, go to aos93.org/o/bcs or call 886-8358.
