ROCKLAND, Maine — The chairman of the Rockland area school board and a member he kicked off two committees in December have resolved their differences, the two said in a prepared statement released Tuesday.
“We have spoken with each other at length and have come to a resolution of our differences. We hereby express a common commitment to RSU 13 and its students and staff. We are committed to working together with our board for the continued improvement of education in our district,” according to the joint statement by Chairman Steve Roberts and member Carol Bachofner.
Bachofner met Monday with Superintendent John McDonald. Following that meeting, Roberts reinstated Bachofner to the curriculum and technology committees.
Roberts removed Bachofner from the two committees on Dec. 23 after she declined to meet with him and the superintendent over concerns he had following her criticism of a police drug search at Oceanside High School East on Dec. 4.
Bachofner criticized the search a day after it happened in an article published in the Bangor Daily News. She said trust was a two-way street: If school officials wanted students to trust them, the school officials also needed to show trust in the students.
Roberts said he was not trying to prevent a board member from speaking to the media but that he took his action when she refused to meet.
The two also had been candidates in last week’s Democratic caucus to nominate someone for the March 10 ballot to fill the vacancy created when Democratic Rep. Elizabeth Dickerson of Rockland resigned. Bachofner withdrew a few days before the caucus. Anne Beebe-Center was picked by voters at the caucus.