Vote May Happen in November Instead of This June.
Mar 22, 2026
MOUNT DESERT ISLAND REGION—A vote to put a school reorganization plan before voters in the regional school system will likely be postponed to November, rather than June as planned.
School Superintendent Michael Zboray sent an email to head administrators in area towns in the afternoon of March 20.
“I am writing to share that the RPC is postponing the reorganization vote to this coming November,” Zboray wrote. “We have made this decision to allow the citizens of the proposed RSU more time to fully understand the importance of this transition.”
It is the second time that the vote has been postponed.
The original hope for a vote on potentially reorganizing the Mount Desert Island school system was for November 2025.
The first postponement was announced in July 2025 when Zboray had said that after two community forums, the Reorganization Planning Committee (RPC) had decided not to put the reorganization referendum on the November 4 ballot.
This time, the MDIRSS Reorganization Planning Committee had requested that vote be held June 9, which is the general election day for Maine primary elections.
“Our goal remains the same: to provide a fairer, more equitable model of education for the future of Trenton, MDI, and our outer island communities. By taking this step now, we are ensuring our schools are resilient and prepared for whatever challenges the future may bring,” Zboray wrote in the March 20 email.
He continued, “In the coming months, the RPC will focus on refining our proposal to ensure it is perfectly aligned with our communities’ fiscal needs and long-term goals. We plan to meet with all local select boards and the Bar Harbor Town Council to share our vision and gather vital feedback. We are nearly there, and we believe this additional time will ultimately benefit the education of our entire district.”
The plan calls for a new governing system for all schools. Instead of voting boards at each school, there will be advisory councils that do not have voting power of things such as the formation of budgets, but advise about their own local schools and their needs. The RSU will also own all school buildings.
If approved by voters, the RSU would manage every public school for Bar Harbor, Mount Desert, Cranberry Isles, Frenchboro, Southwest Harbor, Swan’s Island, Tremont, and Trenton including MDI High School. All towns within the plan would pay a portion of the total budget, which is what towns currently do with the high school, the AOS budget (which becomes part of individual school budgets), and the county budget.
For the reorganization to go forward, it must be approved by voters in Trenton, Bar Harbor, Southwest Harbor, Tremont, and Mount Desert. If one of those towns vote against it, it would fail. The reorganization would dissolve the current Mount Desert Regional School District (MDIHS District).
Multiple towns had approved holding special town meetings to go forward with a June 2026 vote as requested by Zboray and the RPC.
However, in early March, officials in both Mount Desert and Bar Harbor expressed concerns about the latest plan though the governing boards of all towns had approved putting it on the ballots so that voters could have their say.
In Bar Harbor, town councilors worried about the finances of the reorganization, especially that Bar Harbor voters would have the burden of their own $58 million school rebuild and then potentially share new burdens if other towns had extensive renovations or construction after reorganization. Similar concerns were shared in Mount Desert.
When the Bar Harbor Town Council did move it forward to the ballot, March 17, several councilors continued to voice worries about the plan. On April 7, the councilors were meant to vote for whether they recommended voters support the plan or not.
“It seems very compressed to me. Wow. This is a really, really big decision,” Bar Harbor Town Councilor Joe Minutolo said at the March 17 meeting. “Putting this on a ballot in June seems like a really short time frame to me.”
He asked who was driving it to be on the June ballot.
It was the RPC, Zboray said.
“Information has been out for the last two years,” Zboray said. “We had a Bar Harbor meeting early in the fall last year.”
Zboray added that there were stories and articles in paper and a variety of town forums where people could “sit and listen to what we had done.”
The MDIRSS Reorganization Planning Committee began meeting in March 2024. The state gave the area the permission to look into reorganizing the system back in 2023. The process to do so is defined by the state.
Some of the recommendations for the possible reorganization of AOS 91 into an RSU had changed. Those changes included the disposition of existing debt (such as bond payments for the Conners Emerson School in Bar Harbor rebuild) and a proposed organization of where students would attend schools. The current plan keeps students at each of the schools within their communities.
“Look very carefully at the potential financial burden to the taxpayers of Bar Harbor when we change for an RSU. It’s like ‘Oh, we have to pitch in on other facilities in this RSU.’ If they need a new roof, they need a new building, we’re going to be hit with some of these expenses,” Sprague said.
He added that the it’s a great idea to share a lot of the resources.
“We’ve got plenty on our plate right now paying for the current school,” Sprague said.
As of Sunday afternoon, the RPC’s webpage still had the vote for the final plan scheduled for June.
The Bar Harbor Story had reached out to Zboray, Friday morning, February 20, about the potential postponement and has not heard back. We’ll update this story if he responds.
All photos are file photos from the Bar Harbor Story.
https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/E4m6AMCKWOo?rel=0&autoplay=0&showinfo=0&enablejsapi=0
To watch Bar Harbor’s meeting. Or it’s second meeting.
Superintendent Says Single Voting Day Protects Fairness in School Reorganization.
Mount Desert Officials Divided as Regional School Reorganization Moves Toward Vote
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