AUGUSTA, Maine — The group responsible for oversight of Maine’s charter schools unanimously approved on Tuesday a contract for a new, performing arts-focused school based in Sidney.
Snow Pond Arts Academy will open to start the next school year in September at the site of the New England Music Camp. It will serve high school students, starting with 124 freshmen and sophomores primarily from central Maine, before expanding to serve juniors and seniors.
Officials say the school will focus heavily on the arts but also provide core academics. The 78-year-old music camp, through co-director John Wiggin, is leading the push to start the school. The Maine Charter School Commission approved the school’s contract in a 7-0 vote on Tuesday, according to commission Executive Director Bob Kautz.
The commission approved applications from Snow Pond and Acadia Academy during a meeting in November 2015, sparking contract negotiations.
Acadia’s contract was discussed Tuesday, but it has not yet been approved. The school is still ironing out issues with plans for facility renovations, Kautz said, adding that the commissioners were “comfortable that [administrators] were making progress.”
Maine statute limits the state to 10 charter schools in the first 10 years of its charter school law, which was passed in 2011. There is one slot remaining.
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