The balance of power has shifted slightly on the board of a midcoast school district after it narrowly voted last week to remove local protections for transgender students, with voters on Tuesday choosing three new board members who were opposed to that change, according to the Courier-Gazette and PenBay Pilot.
That could help the board members of Union-based Regional School Unit 40 who wanted to keep the policy to form a majority if they ever tried to reverse last week’s decision, which was opposed by many students, residents and staff.
The board ultimately voted 8-8 to remove the district’s policy for transgender and gender expansive students — which despite being a tie, was enough to end the policy because some seats carry more weight due to the size of the towns they represent.
But on Tuesday, voters from Waldoboro selected two candidates, Benjamin Stickney and write-in Leah Shipps, to join the board after they told local news organizations they opposed the removal of the transgender policy and earlier proposals to ban controversial books from school libraries, according to unofficial results gathered by the Courier-Gazette. That represents a small shift for the narrowly divided board, because they replaced two outgoing members, one of whom — Jeanette Wheeler — had supported ending the policy.
Two other seats on the RSU 40 board were also up for a vote on Tuesday, but those outcomes might not shift the ideological makeup of the board.
Naomi Aho, the incumbent in Warren, won reelection, according to the Penobscot Bay Pilot. She had voted in favor of deleting the transgender policy last Thursday.
Newcomer Rachel Wilcox, who previously told the Gazette that she was in favor of retaining the policy, won an open seat in Union, but she’s replacing a board member, Matthew Speno, who also wanted to retain it.
It is unclear whether the board, now with an additional member who supports the transgender students policy, will reconsider the recent decision to abandon it. Superintendent Steve Nolan did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The school board will begin meeting again after summer break.
