Regional School Unit 38 is planning a meeting Thursday night to address concerns stemming from a letter critical of the administration that was made public earlier this summer. Above, Superintendent Jay Charette, left, and RSU 38 board Chairperson Shawn Roderick confer during a meeting last year at Maranacook Community Middle School in Readfield.  Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal file

READFIELD — The Regional School Unit 38 school board plans to host a special board meeting discussion Thursday with a public comment period regarding a letter sent by community members that was published in a Kennebec Journal article in early July.

The letter, signed by 21 former RSU 38 school administrators and officials, was sent to the school board on June 14 and urged board members to make decisions on behalf of the district’s mission to be a “caring community dedicated to excellence.”

The letter was prompted after veteran teacher Dan Holman was shut down in public comment for mentioning a survey sent across the district by the Maranacook Area Schools Association, the district’s teacher union, that gathered responses critical of administration and Superintendent Jay Charette’s leadership.

The Kennebec Journal found through a Freedom of Access Act request that the union’s co-presidents, Dylan Sirois and Jill Plourd, urged Charette and Board of Director Chair Shawn Roderick to share the survey with the board, but they both declined and questioned the validity of the results despite gathering approximately 50 responses from teachers across the district.

Among those who signed the letter are former board chair Cathy Jacobs and board member Patty Gordon; Lori Putnam, former Maranacook High School principal; Steve Saunders, former Maranacook Middle and High School teacher and original member of the 1976 staff when the high school opened; and several others.

Sirois invited association members to listen or speak and he plans to speak on behalf of the union.

Thursday night’s meeting is set for 6:30 p.m. at the Maranacook Community Middle School cafeteria, 2100 Millard Harrison Drive, Readfield, and will not be broadcasted over Zoom.