HALLOWELL — Regional School Unit 2 will host all upcoming school board meetings at its central office in Hallowell after officials unanimously voted to make the change on Thursday.
Like many other Maine districts, RSU 2 had previously rotated the meetings between its five schools in Hallowell, Farmingdale, Dresden and Monmouth.
Officials will now host community outreach meetings in each town throughout the year, in addition to the meetings in Hallowell where officials conduct business and take votes.
Board Chair Donna Seppy said the move is meant to allow board members to gather input from the public on topics that are important to them in a setting where the board can respond and engage.
The district’s public participation policy does not allow the board to discuss a public comment at a regular meeting. The board and superintendent can ask questions about a comment and direct the person to the correct administrator, but cannot engage in a discussion over the comment unless it is then added to the agenda.
RSU 2’s policy committee introduced the idea of holding its regular board meetings in Hallowell and adding community input days during an August meeting.
Some board members questioned the proposal Thursday, saying it could make the voting meetings less accessible to people who cannot travel.
“I think if we do this we have to be thoughtful and suggest this is something we try for the year and get feedback from the community,” said board member Leanne Burnham, who represents Monmouth. “I know we don’t have a lot of public comment, but we don’t want it to get in the way.”
Board member Jeff Bickford asked if the central office location is large enough for when more members of the community show up for the budget season or other topics of interest.
Seppy said the central office’s conference room can be arranged to accommodate more people, or if they know in advance it will be a popular meeting the board could relocate the meeting to one of the schools.
Doors to the building at 7 Reed St. were locked Thursday evening while the meeting was underway.
Meetings are also livestreamed over Zoom.
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