Thornton Academy, Saco school department at odds over contract

 Exterior of Thortnton Academy in Saco on Wednesday, June 10, 2026. (Gregory Rec/Press Herald) The headmaster of Thornton Academy and the superintendent of Saco Public Schools are providing conflicting accounts of negotiations between the two entities over where Saco students can attend high school as their contract is set to expire this month. Thornton is a town academy, a private school that serves public school students through a 200-year-old agreement with the city of Saco. The two groups are in the midst of negotiating the next contract, and both groups say they want to maintain their long-standing relationship. But Thornton’s leaders say the school department has stalled those discussions in a way that puts the agreement in jeopardy. The district, meanwhile, says it wants Thornton to remain Saco’s high school and is just ironing out details on two parts of the contract. The conflicting statements came ahead of a Saco School Board meeting scheduled for Wednesday night, which Thornton leaders encouraged families to attend. On Wednesday afternoon, teachers from the academy demonstrated on Main Street in Saco, holding signs that encouraged drivers to honk if they love Thornton and to come to the school board meeting. [](https://w2pcms.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/IMG_9637.jpg) People pack the Saco School Board meeting Wednesday night. Thornton Academy leaders had encouraged parents to attend the meeting amid contentious negotiations on a new contract between the school board and the private school that has served Saco students for 200 years. (Drew Johnson/Staff Writer) It was standing room only at the meeting, with well over 100 people packing the room 15 minutes before the 7 p.m. scheduled start. The matter became public in a Tuesday letter to parents, in which Thornton Headmaster Rene Menard said the academy and district were at risk of not having a contract for next year after three years of negotiations. Advertisement He accused the Saco School Board of “drawing a line in the sand” and said the board no longer wants an agreement that guarantees all Saco high schoolers attend Thornton. He said the negotiating team has made allowing Saco students to attend other high schools in the region its “top priority.” And he said with fewer Saco students, the school will have to make changes to its programming (about 59% of Thornton’s students live there). By Tuesday evening, the Saco School Department [released its own take](https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Cbch8SrhV/) on the situation, disputing many of Menard’s characterizations, including the idea that Saco wants to shift students to other schools. Superintendent Jeremy Ray said he was disappointed that the confidential process had been made public. “We want Thornton Academy to remain Saco’s high school,” he wrote. “TA has served our city for more than 200 years, and that partnership is one we value deeply.” Ray said Saco “is not moving anyone anywhere,” but that there are two sticking points remaining in negotiations. Thornton wants a five-year contract, while the district prefers a three-year contract with a two-year mutual option because of a fast-changing educational policy landscape. Ray also said the parties were still ironing out language about “superintendents’ agreements,” [Maine’s procedure](https://www.maine.gov/doe/schools/schoolops/superintendents) by which the leaders of two school districts agree to let a student transfer from one to the other. On Wednesday afternoon, the district released a summary of the contract negotiations to date that includes where the two parties have found common ground, as well as the two matters they are still at odds over. Ray did not respond to an interview request Wednesday. Advertisement In comments underneath Ray’s post on Facebook, Saco School Board Chair Sarah Truman said the board believed it was close to an agreement with Thornton, and that the headmaster’s letter was “a 180 from last week.” Truman did not respond to a request for comment. Menard said in an interview Wednesday that the failure to reach a new contract puts the long relationship between the two entities at risk. The academy and district previously had a 10-year contract, followed by a two-year extension that ends June 30. Thornton is seeking a new five-year contract, Menard said, which is what parties have historically had and which allows the school to have stability in its enrollment and finances. He said Saco’s negotiating team has not offered a good explanation for why it wants just a three-year contract. Menard said he put out the letter this week because families knew the deadline was approaching and were asking if an agreement had been reached. “We felt, at this point, it was the right thing to do to inform our families where we stand,” he said. Both the school and district said in their respective letters that they had been able to reach an agreement on a prior matter of contention: free school lunches. Advertisement According to the district’s Wednesday updates, negotiations kicked off in 2024, and some “core issues” took shape, which included the free lunches and other points of contention that have since been resolved. Both sides entered mediation in May, the district said, and the breakthrough over the free lunches occurred this month. Saco schools wanted all of their students attending Thornton to receive a free school meal — as all Maine public school students do, supported by funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. But the academy doesn’t accept federal funding as a rule, Menard said, to maintain independence around curriculum. So Thornton agreed to personally finance free meals for Saco students. Saco voters Tuesday [approved a $59.9 million school budget](https://www.pressherald.com/2026/06/09/saco-voters-approve-59-9-million-school-budget/) that included an additional $1.1 million to cover increased tuition costs at Thornton. _Staff Writer Drew Johnson contributed to this story._ Copy the Story Link [](https://www.pressherald.com/author/riley-board) [Riley BoardStaff Writer](https://www.pressherald.com/author/riley-board) Riley covers education for the Press Herald. Before moving to Portland, she spent two years in Kenai, Alaska, reporting on local government, schools and natural resources for the public radio station KDLL. [More by Riley Board](https://www.pressherald.com/author/riley-board)