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Dawson Nevells is a student at the University of Maine, a graduate of Bangor schools, and ran for Bangor School Committee in 2024.
Usually, the second and fourth Wednesday evenings of every month find me attending Bangor School Committee meetings. Most nights, the chamber is quiet with sparse attendance. I am usually there alone, or alongside a friend I’ve made through years of showing up to these meetings.
The most recent Wednesday meeting was different.
More than 50 people packed the chamber. When the chairs ran out, attendees lined the walls and stood in the back. Some came to celebrate students being recognized for various achievements. But many were teachers, parents, and concerned community members demanding answers about the sudden closure of Fairmount School for the next school year.
What filled the room, I believe, was not just frustration, but suspicion, a growing belief that the public is not being told the full story.
When a story like this reaches the media before it reaches the public through official channels, it is usually a sign that something has gone wrong. The Bangor community should have heard about the potential closure directly from the superintendent through a public statement before the April 29 meeting. Not through a shocking and deeply troubling newspaper article that raised more questions than it answered.
What made the situation even more troublesome was that the closure of Fairmount was not even listed on the meeting agenda. It was likely only because teachers, parents, and community members showed up and spoke out that the issue received the attention it deserved. Yet even after repeated questions from both the public and members of the school committee, the superintendent and school department appeared unprepared, without a clear plan of action, and caught off guard by how quickly they were being forced to respond.
I’m very worried that if the school department doesn’t allow for more public comments to get their input on the plan of action moving forward, that the department will just come to a one and done decision about relocation, and not think twice about how staff, students or parents feel.
And, I believe waiting until May 18 to have the community meetings on the closure, which is after the May 13 school committee meeting, is a complete disgrace and a slap in the face to members of our community who want to be heard. Once a plan is already put in place by the school department, they may not take any of the voices seriously. Community members should not feel as though a final decision will simply be made behind closed doors, with little consideration for the people most directly affected by it.
While the apparent lack of transparency surrounding this issue ultimately falls on the superintendent, I believe this situation runs far deeper than the recent communication failures.
Fairmount School turns 107 years old this year. Built in 1919, it is Bangor’s oldest operating school building. Over the years, numerous evaluations of the building’s infrastructure have documented the expected wear and tear that comes with a century-old facility.
When I ran for Bangor School Committee in 2024, I was asked about the possibility of future closures involving aging schools like Fairmount or Mary Snow School. My response then was simple: These buildings are “no spring chickens.” I said at the time that I support investing in repairs and long-term maintenance to preserve schools whenever possible. I stand by that position today.
But the reality is that when difficult budget decisions arise, as was discussed at the April 29 meeting, maintenance and improvements of facilities are often among the first things pushed aside. After years of deferring those investments, we are now facing the consequences of those choices in real time.
This moment is what I would consider the first major challenge our superintendent has faced during her nearly two-year tenure. My hope moving forward is simple: Be fully honest with the community about the district’s plans, and stop postponing the critical maintenance our schools so clearly need. This situation shows that we can no longer wait.
