Bar Harbor and Mount Desert debt obligations remain central issue in reorganization talks.

Carrie Jones

Jun 02, 2026

The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by First National Wealth Management.

---

BAR HARBOR—The discussion about Mount Desert Island’s proposed school reorganization is no longer just about budgets, governance, and who owns school buildings. For some supporters, it is also about a longer-term vision: bringing middle school students from across the island together under one roof.

That possibility emerged again Monday as Bar Harbor school officials discussed the future of the regionalization effort, a proposal voters could consider later this year after years of planning, delays, and revisions.

The middle school possibility was quickly mentioned during the Conners Emerson School Committee meeting, when Committee Chair Marie Yarborough brought up the middle school during the update on the MDIRSS Reorganization Planning Committee (RPC).

That RPC committee was tasked with presenting the voters of area towns a plan to consolidate schools. For the plan to go forward voters have to agree.

In September 2025, the Mount Desert Island Regional School System – AOS 91 School Board board formed a middle school committee that it said would expressly look to creating a combined middle school for the region and potentially other options, such as two schools to house middle graders.

It’s a continuation of work done over five years ago and more recently during the Mount Desert Island region’s potential move toward reorganization.

Currently, individual towns each host their own programs for all grades until high school.

Mount Desert Island Regional School System—AOS 91 School Board Chair Jessica Stewart had said the middle school committee comes out of the reorganization work.

Since then, votes on whether to potentially reorganize the school system have been delayed twice.

The original hope for a vote was for November 2025.

The first postponement was announced in July 2025 when School Superintendent Michale 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, 2025 ballot.

“This decision was made to allow for additional time to facilitate broader community understanding and feedback regarding the proposal. This extended period will foster a more informed and engaged discussion, ultimately leading to a stronger path forward,” Zboray said at the time.

It was postponed a second time this March shortly after the Bar Harbor Town Council questioned the costs to Bar Harbor residents who recently approved a $55 million new school when other schools in the region would have to upgrade their ailing schools. This is the cost without interest.

The worry was that property tax payers in Bar Harbor and in Mount Desert that are already paying the costs of school rebuilds or extensive repairs would have to foot part of the bill for other schools.

Another component of the plan that was questioned was that each town would have to turn its school buildings—including the new Conners Emerson building set for completion this fall—over to the new school system rather than continuing to own them.

While some had worried about the restructuring of individual schools, Trenton was worried earlier in the process about budget implications in ways that haven’t been previously discussed.

Under the plan, all the individual school budgets will be under one RSU budget.

That means that while voters can pass or reject the budget by attending that RSU budget meeting, voters will likely not attend those budget approval meetings if based on past attendance for approval of both the MDI High School budget and the current AOS budget which is historically low and often mostly attended by school board members and the occasional staff member.

In 2024 there were 18 voters who approved the AOS budget. In 2025 there were 26 voters and in January 2026 there were 32 voters. All voters in all the towns represented can attend and approve (or not) that AOS budget.

“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 about the vote’s postponement.

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.”

---

DEBT BURDENS

On Monday, Zboray said, “We’re looking at two ways to ease Bar Harbor debt burden if the RSU goes through.”

One version would have Bar Harbor and Mount Desert taxpayers take 50% less of the burden toward new debts caused by major school repairs or replacements in other towns.

That version is listed as a “final decision” in the notes of the May 13, 2026 meeting.

The meeting summary reads, “Debt Management Amendment Approved: The committee adopted a 50% reduction model for future RSU debt contributions. Under this model, Bar Harbor and Mount Desert will receive a 50% discount on their share of any new RSU-wide debt as long as they are still actively paying off their historical local school building bonds.”



It goes on to state, “The reduction granted to towns with existing debt will be proportionally distributed and shared across the remaining RSU member communities. This relief automatically expires once a town’s specific historical bond is fully paid off.”

However, Bar Harbor Town Councilor Earl Brechlin had an idea that for the first 25 years of reorganization that any towns that had capital improvement debt, would own that debt. After 25 years, the RSU would absorb it and have ownership of the buildings, Zboray said.

If the school system built a new school or other RSU-wide project that served all the towns (just like the high school does), all towns would be paying for that school. So, if there was a new middle school serving all the towns, all the towns in the system would pay for it. Debt relief would only happen if individual towns need capital improvements.

“The committee deliberately designed the amendment so that it only applies if individual towns require new capital improvements down the line,” the summary of the RPC Committee’s May meeting continues.

Absorbing the debt rather than not absorbing it doesn’t drastically change the cost, RPC and Bar Harbor School Committee member Tyson Starling said. The debt is diluted, he added.

Starling said, “From what I hear from citizens that’s definitely the sticking point from Bar Harbor.”

He said it’s really the buildings, debts, and messaging that are issues. Feedback he’s received is confused about what reorganization is and how it explicitly helps.

Proponents say it will cut costs and simplify administration. Staff could move from one school to another without having to be fired and rehired. It would also help with organizing transportation.

The reasons that reorganization is helpful is in the nuance and detail, Starling said.

Brechlin’s idea hasn’t yet been looked at by the MDIRSS Reorganization Planning Committee, Zboray said.

Zboray has shared the idea with lawyers who are still hashing out what can and can’t be done. It’s an elegantly simple idea, he said, but there may be issues that make it impossible.

“We want as an RSU for all of these buildings to be available for all these island kids,” Yarborough said.

They need to remember the desire to put kids in the places that meet their goals, she said.

---

MIDDLE SCHOOL DISCUSSION

There is a committee slowly being formed to create an island-wide middle school. That is a separate step if the reorganization occurs, Zboray said.

A middle school is not currently being voted on and it is not a part of the November 2026 referendum question.

“There’s a lot of energy about an island-wide middle school at a central location like here, and there’s a lot of questions,” Stewart had said in September.

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.

---

LINK TO LEARN MORE

AOS 91 Reorganization Website

All photos: Bar Harbor Story.

---

Paid for by the candidate.

---

HELP SUPPORT THE BAR HARBOR STORY

When we started The Bar Harbor Story, we didn’t know if anyone would read it. But you showed up. You shared. You sent tips. Now—over 400,000 views every month later—it’s clear: people here care about their community and each other.

We’ve kept everything free because news should never be out of reach, but every one of our stories takes time to write, and your support keeps The Bar Harbor Story going.

If you value our work, please consider a paid subscription, a founding membership, or a sponsorship.

It truly helps us cover one more meeting, tell one more story, shine one more light.

Even $5 a month makes a difference. Click here to become a one-time supporter now.

Thank you so much for being here.

Founding member information can be found here.

Have questions about sponsorships? Just send Shaun an email at sfarrar86@gmail.com, he’d love to hear from you.

---