Residents of Bristol and South Bristol will soon have the opportunity to learn about the months of work a committee has put into researching a possible way to mitigate rising education costs.
During their respective meetings in October, members of the Bristol and South Bristol school committees will discuss the progress of the school restructuring committee consisting of members from both communities. Created in August, the committee has been actively exploring the formation of a new, more independent administrative structure that could benefit the schools and students served by both towns.
“Ultimately we’re just trying to be good stewards of the public dollar and provide the best education we can for our kids,” said John Armentrout, a South Bristol resident and member of the SBS staff. “We have small schools we like and we want to keep as long as possible and have them thrive as much as we can while being careful to maintain our fiscal responsibilities.”
The creation and work of the restructuring committee, which Armentrout co-chairs with Bristol School Committee member Emile Lugosch and consists of school employees, committee members, and community members from Bristol and South Bristol, was a result of the restructuring of AOS 93, which both towns are members of.
In January 2023, the then-seven member towns of AOS 93 – Bremen, Bristol, Damariscotta, Jefferson, Newcastle, Nobleboro, and South Bristol – began exploring different structure options that would reduce inefficiencies and inconsistencies across the district. A November 2023 proposal to create a seven-town RSU failed to gain support across all towns.
In May 2024, Bremen, Damariscotta, and Newcastle – the three towns served by Great Salt Bay Community School in Damariscotta, – decided to leave AOS 93 and form RSU 48. Residents in the three towns voted to approve the reorganization plan the following month during their respective annual town meetings.
Around the same time, Bristol and South Bristol formed the Bristol-South Bristol Reorganization Committee, which was tasked with looking into the options the schools in both towns had for beneficial collaboration.
A September 2024 proposal to create an education service center, another type of administrative structure, between RSU 48 and AOS 93 was not pursued. In October 2024, the AOS 93 Board voted on whether to create a four-town education service center. Bristol and South Bristol voted for the proposal and Nobleboro and Jefferson voted against. Due to the weighted formula of the votes, the proposal did not pass.
With the withdrawal of Bremen, Damariscotta, and Newcastle going into effect July 1, the AOS 93 Board needed to develop a central office budget and change the cost-sharing formula for the 2025-2026 fiscal year. The board settled on a cost-sharing formula in which 50% of the $1,219,774.85 budget was divided equally among the four towns and 50% was allocated based on student enrollment.
While the overall budget was a decrease of $145,550.65 or 10.66%, all four towns’ contributions went up.
Jefferson’s share totaled $359,453.92, an increase of $47,832.24 or 15.35%; Bristol’s share totaled $331,584.21, an increase of $85,543.93 or 34.77%; Nobleboro’s share totaled $287,848.37, an increase of $94,185.18; and South Bristol’s share totaled $209,587.37, an increase of $134,762.95 or 180.11%.
Voters of the four towns first rejected then approved the central office budget on Dec. 18, 2024 and Jan. 22, respectively.
Concerned with increasing assessments as a result of the new cost-sharing formula, the reorganization committee voted in June to recommend Bristol and South Bristol move forward with a two-town education service center.
The model, which would keep BCS and SBS operating independently while also sharing certain administrative services and resources, “makes sense” for the two towns, according to South Bristol School Committee Chair Sara Mitchell.
“Bristol and South Bristol have always had a good history of working together, and this would just be another example of that,” Mitchell said.
In addition, a switch to an education service center could help mitigate rising education costs in the future.
“What we do know is the AOS cost-sharing formula will increase in the next fiscal year and we’re hoping if we form the ESC that our budget increase might be (less than) that,” Armentrout said.
In order to consider making a change for the 2026-2027 school year, the school committees needed to submit the first part of an application to the Maine Department of Education by the end of August. Both school committees voted in support of the first step, which was “sort of a way to get our foot in the door,” Armentrout said.
“It basically is giving them a heads up saying ‘We’re thinking about this,’” Armentrout said. “It’s a bit of a placeholder … so that we could proceed to the next step if we want to.”
The application required the new administrative body have a name. Ultimately, the restructuring committee decided to name the education service center Johns Bay Coastal Alliance, paying tribute to the body of water between the Bristol and South Bristol, Armentrout said.
The state approved the first part of the application in September, greenlighting the school committees to move on to the second part of the application, which involves developing a plan for shared services, an interlocal agreement between the towns detailing the governing of the education service center and plans for cost sharing, and a withdrawal plan for AOS 93, among other components, Armentrout said.
Some of the services the school committees hope could be shared if the education service center is created include curriculum coordination; financial and business administration; special education; facilities; transportation; nutrition; and secondary education. In addition, the schools could share a superintendent.
In the draft of the proposed interlocal agreement, the restructuring committee recommends a governing body that consists of five school committee members from both towns. All 10 members would have a vote all of which would be equally weighted.
The draft of the cost-sharing agreement states 50% of the total administrative costs would be divided between the two members and the other 50% would be divided according to pre-K through 12th grade student population. Both towns would continue to be responsible for their own education costs for students in pre-K through 12th grade.
The two schools would continue to operate independently of one another as they always have, Mitchell and Armentrout said.
“This does not dissolve the individual town boards, which is important,” Armentrout said. “It does not change ownership of the property from what it is currently; it does not combine contracts of employees; and it doesn’t change the responsible parties for … debt.”
Equally important, virtually nothing will change for students, faculty, and staff in either school, Mitchell said.
“In the day to day, they’ll still be going to the same schools they always have,” she said.
The Bristol and South Bristol school committees expect to vote on whether to approve the second part of the application to the state at their respective meetings on Thursday, Oct. 2 and Tuesday, Oct. 7, at which they will also field questions about the proposal and process from interested members of the public.
If the state approves the second part of the application, the school committees will move forward with creating the withdrawal plan. Committee members hope to have a completed plan to present to the AOS 93 Board and superintendent by the end of November, Armentrout said.
The Bristol School Committee will meet at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 2 at Bristol Consolidated School, at 2153 Bristol Road in Bristol. The South Bristol School Committee will meet at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 7 at South Bristol School, at 2024 Route 129 in South Bristol.
For more information about the restructuring committee’s ongoing work, go to aos93.org/o/bcs/page/bcssbs-restructuring.
