Some members of the local school board are attempting to assert more control over the process of choosing its leaders for the coming school year by ending the policy of rotating the chair position by town.
In a public meeting on March 28, members of the Maine School Administrative District 75 Board of Directors voted to introduce a proposed policy revision that would give them more direct input in determining who would serve as the next chair and vice chair. The district covers Harpswell, Topsham, Bowdoin and Bowdoinham.
The vote’s outcome was a tie, but the motion still carried because of the district’s vote-weighting system based on town populations. Topsham representatives primarily carried it over the line.
The proposed policy change, introduced without advance public notice, was scheduled for discussion and a vote at the board’s next meeting, set for 6:30 p.m., Thursday, April 11, in the Forum at Mt. Ararat High School in Topsham.
However, the board’s chair later decided to rescind the initial vote, meaning it will need to be taken up again on April 11, and that any further action would happen at a later meeting.
Under the current policy, the board’s chair and vice chair are chosen via a town rotation, with board members from the coming year’s designated towns — one for chair and the other for vice chair — caucusing to choose their representatives. Board leaders are chosen in April and start serving July 1 of each year.
The current policy states: “The position of Chair and Vice-Chair shall rotate through the membership by town using the following order: Topsham, Bowdoin, Harpswell, and Bowdoinham. In the event that the membership from a specific town is unable to nominate a candidate for Chair or Vice-Chair when it is its turn, the nomination will move to the next town in the order.”
It adds: “The Vice-Chair holds the position of chair of the Finance Committee. It is expected that the Vice-Chair will be elected to the position of Board Chair the following year.”
Under the proposed change, the chair would instead be chosen from among all sitting board members with at least one year of experience and could serve for up to three consecutive terms if the board chose to reelect them.
The town rotation would survive, but only for the vice chair position, and the board still could vote to reject any vice chair nominee opposed by the majority of its members.
The proposed new policy states: “To nominate a candidate for Vice-Chair, the town representatives will caucus. Once chosen, the nomination will be presented to the Board for approval. In the event the Vice-Chair nominee does not win Board approval, the town representatives may caucus again and select a new nominee. If the membership from a specific town is unable to nominate a candidate for Vice-Chair, the nomination will move to the next town in the order.”
Under the proposed revamp, the board’s vice chair would continue to serve as Finance Committee chair. The order of the town rotation wouldn’t change, but it would no longer be used to select a chair.
Hutson Hayward, of Bowdoinham, is the board’s current chair, and Amy Spelke, of Topsham, is its vice chair.
Bowdoin is next in line to select a vice chair, who would typically go on to be chair the following year under the existing policy. Its current board members are Brandy Robertson and Jim Moulton. Harpswell will choose the next vice chair after Bowdoin.
At the March 28 meeting, several board members voiced support for the policy change, saying it would discourage parochialism among board leadership and give members more flexibility and choice.
Board member Gregory Greenleaf, of Harpswell, said he supports the policy change because it would expand the pool of available candidates for board leadership and promote broader representation.
“I think electing board officers by town rotation suggests that, fundamentally, we are town agents, and our task is to get the most for our town and to look past the needs of other communities,” Greenleaf told the board. “And even if some members of the public or … our board may feel disadvantaged by the new leadership selection process, that does not mean we should allow a perception that is not a reality shape how we choose the chair.”
Board member Kim Pacelli, of Topsham, also spoke favorably about the proposed policy change. Pacelli said the board’s current leadership selection process is surprisingly rigid and may be contributing to a recent high turnover rate among district leadership.
“I joined this board because I was greatly concerned about stability for this district,” she said. “My interest is, admittedly, quite piqued about an opportunity to contemplate whether a more flexible mechanism for this board to elect its leadership from year to year could only continue to promote the kind of stability that many of us care about.”
Pacelli said she would have preferred that the proposed change be introduced in a public workshop rather than at a board meeting. Such a workshop had been scheduled for Thursday, March 4, but was canceled by the board. Still, Pacelli said there was nothing “nefarious” about the proposal.
On MSAD 75’s Facebook page, a group of residents including former board Chair Kim Totten, of Bowdoin, criticized the proposed change as a way to prevent Robertson, one of the Bowdoin board members, from eventually becoming chair.
Robertson has often clashed ideologically with other board members and was accused of micromanagement and conservative agenda-pushing by former Superintendent of Schools Steven Connolly, who resigned in 2023 after less than a year on the job.
Robertson has denied the accusation and said her primary concern has been making sure the district follows its own rules. She was absent from the March 28 board meeting and didn’t respond to a request for comment on the proposed policy change.
The vote was evenly split among board members present, but the motion still carried because of the district’s weighted voting system based on the populations of the towns represented.
Greenleaf and Pacelli, along with Topsham representatives Mary Hobson, River Khoriaty, Haley Kulas and Mike Timberlake, voted to acknowledge the first read of the proposed change.
Hayward, the current board chair, voted against, as did Harpswell representatives Bart Beattie, Frank Wright and Ryan Larsen; Spelke, the current vice chair; and Moulton, of Bowdoin. In addition to Robertson, Bowdoinham representative Andy Begin also was absent from the meeting.
Hayward took issue with the way the proposed change was hastily introduced, but he didn’t stop the other board members from moving ahead with the vote to acknowledge a first reading of the proposal.
“I feel duty-bound to say I believe this policy was improperly brought forward,” he told the board, noting that it wasn’t made available to the public prior to the March 28 meeting. “I’m going to let the board have its say today, but I want to point that out.”
However, Hayward later decided to schedule a board vote to rescind the action, saying it didn’t follow proper board procedure and that he had erred in allowing it. He said another first read of the proposal would be voted on at the board’s April 11 meeting.
“It was my responsibility as Chair not just to raise the question of policy adherence at a meeting, but to enforce it, and I failed to do that,” Hayward said in an email on Friday, April 5.
Have a comment or news tip? Email J. Craig Anderson at craig@harpswellanchor.org.
