Category: Education

A sparse crowd of roughly 100 residents has strongly endorsed Maine School Administrative District 75’s proposed $55 million budget for the upcoming academic year.
The nearly unanimous approval of the district’s proposed 4.4% budget increase occurred in a town meeting-style vote at Mt. Ararat Middle School’s Orion Performing Arts Center on Thursday, May 16.

A new assessment of spring 2023 math scores at local schools found that while student achievement met or exceeded statewide averages, there were still grades — particularly in middle school — where the majority of students fell below expectations.

The local school district plans to roll out a new option for students and others to anonymously report potential threats at school before they escalate into violence.

The local school board has chosen its chair and vice chair for the 2024-25 school year after an unsuccessful bid by some board members to change the selection process.

The local school board has reversed course and postponed indefinitely a move by some of its members to end a long-standing policy of rotating the chair position by town each year.

Over the protests of students, the local school board’s Finance Committee has endorsed a proposed fiscal year 2025 budget that would eliminate a handful of high school teaching positions while setting aside funds for a strategic plan and other new expenses.

Some members of the local school board are attempting to assert more control over the process of...

Harpswell resident Amanda Brillant was named to the fall 2023 dean’s list at the University of Southern Maine. Brillant, a veteran of the U.S. Navy, is majoring in social and behavioral science with a concentration in counseling and a minor in holistic and integrative health.

Xavier Kane and Emmett Stuart, two students in Abby Svenson’s fifth grade class at Harpswell Community School, worked together to fold an American flag on a rainy Wednesday afternoon in February.

Local school district officials have chosen not to accommodate a community petition seeking to amend the district’s new anti-discrimination policy for transgender and gender-expansive students, saying the proposed change could enable bullying and discrimination.

Citing safety concerns, the local school board has decided to cancel all K-12 classes across the district on Monday, April 8, because of a total solar eclipse set to occur that afternoon.

Chris Hoffman is adamant that the most urgent challenge facing educators today is how to curb the negative effects of social media and smartphone use on children and adolescents.

A former educator has launched a petition drive in opposition to the local school district’s recently approved policy to protect transgender and gender-expansive students from bullying and discrimination.

In an era of heated conflict for the local school board, Harpswell resident Frank Wright seeks to bring down the temperature with his calm, deliberative, respectful demeanor.

The local school district has agreed to change how it promotes a high school affinity group for students of color after receiving a complaint from a think tank known for opposing “woke” anti-racism curricula.

Building a canoe isn’t just an exercise for the hands — it also engages the mind in a variety of ways. In the case of Mt. Ararat Middle School students Keegan Pennell and Carter Decker, canoe-building has become a gateway to developing a greater passion for learning in general.

Maine School Administrative District 75 recently hosted two forums to explain steps it is taking to keep children safe in an academic year marked by an unusually high number of threats to local students.

The local school board has overwhelmingly endorsed plans to enter a federal lottery for a rebate of up to $200,000 on the purchase of an electric school bus and charging station, citing children’s health and environmental concerns.

After several months of discussion and debate, the local school board has unanimously approved its first-ever policy intended to protect transgender and gender-expansive students from bullying and discrimination.