Introduction
In the first weeks of August, the school boards of Bristol and South Bristol voted unanimously to start the two-part application process for creating a joint Educational Service Center (ESC) on July 1, 2026. Joining this Center would remove the two schools from AOS 93. On July 28, 2025, the Bristol and South Bristol schools’ joint restructuring committee voted to recommend this course of action to their school committees.
Background
The committee was created in the spring of 2023 during the AOS-wide restructuring efforts that culminated in the fall of 2024 with Great Salt Bay School announcing it planned to withdraw from the AOS and create its own school district as of July 1, 2025. After a year spent reviewing several different future possible paths of their own, the Bristol/South Bristol committee decided that forming a two-town Educational Service Center promises the most autonomy for the schools and towns, builds on an already thriving partnership between the two neighboring schools, and is the most cost-effective and least disruptive option.
Benefits of an ESC, Part I
Of the 17 AOS systems originally created during the Baldacci administration (ca. 2010), at least nine have dissolved or are in the process of doing so, and more than 40 towns have withdrawn from the consolidation effort.
The ESC model was created by the Maine Department of Education around 2019 to allow for a more flexible approach to inter-local educational support. It encourages collaboration between independent school units through customized and shared resources, rather than simply consolidating administrative support.
On the surface, an ESC is very much like an AOS. It contains a central office that ensures its member schools have access to the services they need, including financial and contractual, transportation, nutrition, special education, superintendent services, and facilities maintenance. That central office is overseen by an Executive Director (rather than a superintendent) and governed by a board made up of representatives from the participating towns.
The ESC model also offers two other major benefits.
First, the board will be composed of members who have equal voting power. Second, the cost-sharing arrangement will be exclusive to the two peninsula towns, narrowing the margin for dissatisfaction, and keeping local funds within the community.
Why the AOS model no longer works for Bristol and South Bristol
Contrast this with the AOS model, in which each board member’s vote is weighted according to their town’s student population. Currently, that gives South Bristol 13.7% of the vote, and Bristol 34.1%, while Jefferson carries 30.7% and Nobleboro 21.6%. This proportional representation made sense when the budget was also divided proportionally, as it had been.
But in the fall of 2024, with Great Salt Bay’s withdrawal, the new, smaller AOS board rewrote the cost-sharing agreement, moving the four schools closer to an equal division of AOS costs. In the current model, South Bristol carries 18% of the AOS costs, Bristol pays 28%, Jefferson pays 30%, and Nobleboro 24%. The stated goal was to move toward an eventual parity where each school would pay 25% of the cost, regardless of their student population or of their voting share. Because of the weighted voting system, Bristol and South Bristol lack the ability, even collectively, to prevent motions being approved even if they are in complete disagreement with them.
Benefits of an ESC, Part II
In the ESC model, however, Bristol and South Bristol will be able to arrive at a cost-sharing agreement that supports a localized, cooperative, and mutually beneficial administrative unit that coordinates services for two collaborative and philosophically aligned schools and communities. Each town will have equal say on the board, and the current schools and school boards will remain largely unchanged.
Next Steps
Part 1 of the application process is simple and straightforward and is already complete.
Part 2 of the application is more complex, requires far more detailed planning, and is due before the end of October, which means the restructuring committee has a lot of work to do and a short amount of time to do it. We are excited by all the benefits forming an ESC holds and will continue to update the community through our school board and select board meetings, the Lincoln County News, when possible, as well as through our town offices and social media outlets.