SOUTHWEST HARBOR — The school committee here has broken with past practice by agreeing to accept a student from Lamoine whose mother teaches at Mount Desert Island High School.

Policy at the Pemetic Elementary School allows staff members who live in towns other than Southwest Harbor to send their children to the K-8 Pemetic school for an annual tuition charge of $500. This is the first time the school has permitted the child of a teacher from another school in the Mount Desert Island system to attend Pemetic, according to school committee chairman Skip Strong.

“We realize we’re sticking our necks out there a little bit,” Mr. Strong said. “But, we said, ‘You know, this needs to be addressed.’”

The decision to allow the son of Bronwyn Kortge to attend kindergarten this fall at Pemetic was made in a unanimous vote by the school committee in June. Ms. Kortge is a part-time employee at Mount Desert Island High School, teaching a vocal music class and directing the school’s state championship show choir, its concert chorus and serving as vocal director for the drama department’s annual fall musical.

For more education news, pick up a copy of the Mount Desert Islander.

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