Parents press Bangor School Committee for transparency after Fairmont relocation

A series of public commenters and committee members on June 10 pressed the Bangor School Committee for clearer public access to technical reports and detailed plans following the committee’s recent vote to temporarily relocate Fairmont students.

A parent who did not give her name told the committee that records obtained through a freedom‑of‑access request indicate routine testing and remediation recommendations — including patching and encapsulation work on ceiling material and targeted abatement — and said those documents do not, in her view, demonstrate a safety risk that required relocation. “Stop the lies. Stop the halftruths,” she told the committee, urging officials to “make a long‑term plan with the community.”

Dr. Katie Swaha, a Bangor parent and qualitative researcher, said she filed a FOA request on April 30 and did not receive the technical reports until June 3, which she noted was six days after the committee had already voted to move Fairmont. “The documents I received do not appear to warrant immediate closure,” she said, and requested four items from the district: prompt posting of data and plans, clear supervision protocols for elementary students on a high‑school campus, a public statement of supports for students with special needs, and ethically designed means of collecting student perspectives.

Superintendent Robinson and Director Hail said the district will post information more quickly and committed to bi‑weekly communications over the summer. Director Hail described the current facilities review as “fluid” and said Carpenters Associates had provided a preliminary memo; he also said the initial $5.6 million figure shared earlier did not include a 30% contingency that a follow‑up estimate referenced.

The superintendent said a more thorough assessment will be presented at the committee’s August meeting and that summer work typically must be bid by November for implementation the following summer, creating tight scheduling constraints. She also said district staff had recently confirmed maps showing how Fairmont students would be assigned within receiving buildings but that, for safety reasons, some room‑level details would be shared internally rather than published publicly.

Committee members repeatedly urged the administration to post the underlying reports and plans as soon as possible and to provide clear operational protocols for supervision, student pick‑up and drop‑off, and supports for students with vulnerabilities. The administration indicated Director Finny is responsible for uploading materials to the district website and agreed to improve navigation to the Fairmont resources page.

Next steps: administrators said they will present a detailed Fairmont assessment in August; in the meantime they will post documents as available and provide at least one bi‑weekly update during the summer.