Blue Hill-area towns asked to reduce school choice to boost local academy numbers

Blue Hill-area towns asked to reduce school choice to boost local academy numbers

George Stevens Academy, a private town academy in Blue Hill that has long served as the area’s de facto high school, is hoping to sign contracts with sending towns to help it stabilize years of flagging enrollment and finances. The school – one of a handful of town academies remaining from the early history of Maine’s rural education system – has lost more than a third of its enrollment since 2020. It has gone through two rounds of staff layoffs…