SOUTHWEST HARBOR — The Southwest Harbor School Committee last month reversed an earlier decision that allowed a child from Lamoine whose mother teaches part-time at Mount Desert Island High School to attend the Pemetic Elementary School.

In June, the school committee voted unanimously to allow the child to attend the school on a one-year trial basis. The parents of the child were to pay $1,000 tuition for the year. The committee’s decision was made against the advice of an attorney familiar with education issues.

The Mount Desert Island school system went from a school union to an alternative organizational structure (AOS) shortly after the committee made its decision. School policies under an AOS are required to be consistent among all schools in the system The AOS board decided not to adopt the Pemetic tuition policy.

At its Jan. 13 meeting, the Southwest Harbor School Committee voted unanimously to do away with the new tuition policy and revert to their previous policy. That policy allows employees of the school who live outside of Southwest Harbor to send their children to Pemetic for an annual tuition fee of $500.

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