SACO, MAINE – A long-simmering contract dispute between the Saco School Department and Thornton Academy erupted into public Wednesday as school officials, trustees, parents, and community members packed a tense Saco School Board meeting over the future of the city’s historic relationship with the academy.

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Although negotiations between the two sides have been taking place largely behind closed doors since 2024, the disagreement became highly public in June 2026 after both sides released competing public letters accusing the other of misrepresenting the status of negotiations and the future of Saco students attending Thornton Academy.

At the center of the dispute are two unresolved issues: who controls student transfer authority and how long the next tuition agreement should last.

Despite the growing public tension, leaders from both sides repeatedly stressed during the meeting that the overall framework of the relationship remains intact and that both parties remain close to a final agreement.

“We are this far apart,” Thornton Academy Board of Trustees President Eric Purvis said during the meeting. “And we are so close right now.”

The dispute highlights the unusual structure of education in Saco, where the city does not operate its own public high school and instead pays tuition for students to attend Thornton Academy, one of Maine’s historic independent academies.

“We know that Saco doesn’t operate a public high school,” Saco Superintendent Jeremy Ray said. “We tuition to TA, which is a unique one of what, I think, 13 in the state of Maine that are independent schools.”

According to Ray, Saco taxpayers currently provide between $18 million and $19 million annually to Thornton Academy through tuition, insured value factor payments, special education costs, English learner costs, transportation, and other district support.

The core dispute now centers on what are known as superintendent agreements — the process through which students may seek approval to attend another high school outside Thornton Academy.

Saco school officials maintain that the superintendent has sole authority under state law to approve such requests.

Thornton Academy leaders, however, proposed contract language that would require both Superintendent Ray and Thornton Academy Headmaster Rene Menard to jointly approve student transfers.

Thornton officials expressed concern that unrestricted transfer authority could slowly evolve into a de facto school choice system that would siphon students — and taxpayer tuition dollars — away from the academy.

“We want all the kids,” Purvis said. “We don’t want to exclude any Saco students who want to go to Thornton Academy.”

Purvis argued that Thornton Academy has historically served as Saco’s high school under contracts that guaranteed all Saco students access to the academy and guaranteed Thornton Academy the associated enrollment stability necessary for long-term planning.

“That is important to us, and we need for that to continue,” Purvis said.

Thornton Academy Headmaster Rene Menard echoed those concerns, warning that the lack of a finalized agreement has unsettled families and raised fears about the future of the historic arrangement.

Menard publicly alleged that Saco’s negotiating team “has drawn a line in the sand” and no longer wants a contract guaranteeing that every Saco high school student can attend Thornton Academy.

During the meeting, Menard referenced an email allegedly sent by a Saco School Board member discussing a possible “free choice model,” which he said intensified concerns among parents and trustees.

“We’re concerned about that,” Menard said. “I think that’s probably why so many people are here.”

Menard repeatedly emphasized Thornton Academy’s historic role in the city and its desire to continue serving as Saco’s high school.

“Thornton Academy wants to be Saco’s high school,” Menard said.

Superintendent Ray sharply rejected accusations that Saco intends to dismantle its relationship with Thornton Academy or move large numbers of students elsewhere.

“If we wanted kids to have old choice, full choice, that would have been in the first paragraph for the contract,” Ray said.

Ray described suggestions that Saco intends to abandon Thornton Academy as “misinformation” and argued that surrounding school districts do not have the physical capacity to absorb Saco’s student population even if the city wanted to pursue broad school choice.

School Board member Truman made a similar point during the public discussion.

“Students are still gonna be able to go to Thornton,” Truman said. “That was never the case.”

Truman also questioned where neighboring districts would place hundreds of additional students.

“Where are we gonna put 900 more students at another high school that’s not built for?” Truman asked.

Ray argued that superintendent waivers are historically rare and intended only for exceptional situations involving individual students and families.

“That’s a parent with the student coming to the superintendent, or the administration, saying, ‘I just can’t make it work at Thornton Academy,’” Ray said.

Ray added that if large numbers of students were suddenly requesting transfers, both sides would need to seriously examine why.

“If there’s a ton of examples, then I’d want to meet with Thornton Academy and see what’s going on,” Ray said.

Menard pushed back against suggestions that Thornton Academy has historically blocked reasonable student transfer requests and described the existing system as collaborative.

“We want to do what’s in the best interest for this child and this family,” Menard said.

Menard stated that he could not recall denying transfer requests from students seeking alternative placements.

The second major sticking point involves the length of the contract itself.

Thornton Academy is pushing for a fixed five-year contract running through June 30, 2031, arguing that enrollment stability is essential for long-term academic and financial planning.

“Our planning is all done on a five-year look-forward basis,” Purvis said. “We need to be able to plan.”

Purvis contrasted Thornton Academy’s budgeting process with traditional public school systems.

“Thornton Academy, unlike a school board, can’t set its budget and then go out to the city and have them fund it,” Purvis said.

Saco officials, meanwhile, reportedly proposed a maximum five-year agreement containing an escape clause that would allow the city to terminate the deal after three years if specific renewal conditions are not met.

Purvis questioned the practicality of negotiating a short-term deal after nearly three years of talks.

“If we’re gonna do a three-year contract, this took us three years to get to,” Purvis said. “We’re gonna start tomorrow.”

Another major issue during negotiations involved free lunch access for Saco students attending Thornton Academy.

Ray described universal free meals as one of the district’s top priorities and praised Maine’s statewide free lunch policy.

“There is nothing, in my opinion, that has been the best state policy that has been put in, as providing free lunch to kids,” Ray said.

According to Ray, negotiations over student meals stretched across numerous bargaining sessions.

“I think it took us 13 tries to get there,” Ray said.

Thornton Academy ultimately agreed to provide free meals for all Saco students attending the school while remaining outside the federal lunch program, which academy officials argued would fundamentally alter Thornton Academy’s governance structure.

“Nobody at Thornton Academy went without food,” Purvis said. “If you were not able to afford a meal, Thornton Academy provided that.”

Purvis stated that Thornton Academy had already been covering meal costs for roughly 24 percent of Saco students.

“We are going to fund food for all Saco students out of our tuition that comes to us,” Purvis said. “Out of our money.”

Throughout the meeting, both sides repeatedly attempted to reassure families that negotiations remain active and that neither party wants to sever the relationship that has defined secondary education in Saco for generations.

Still, the increasingly public dispute exposed deeper concerns over governance, financial stability, school choice, and who ultimately controls the future of Saco’s high school students.

For now, the fate of the next contract appears to hinge on whether both sides can bridge the remaining divide over transfer authority and long-term guarantees without unraveling one of Maine’s oldest educational partnerships.