French program cut as GSA announces staffing changes
Some admin roles double up on responsibilities in face of budget constraints
June 1, 2026
By staff
BLUE HILL— French will no longer be offered at George Stevens Academy, school officials confirmed, along with other details of workforce reductions.
“Over the past several months, George Stevens Academy has navigated two significant developments at once: a reduction in force driven by budget constraints, and the head of school's unexpected decision to step down at the end of this academic year,” the school said in a press release. “Rather than treat these as separate events to be managed in sequence, the board of trustees, the head of school, and the teachers' union used this period to take a careful look at the school's needs, resources, and structure — and to make decisions that would serve students and staff well into the next chapter.”
The school’s budget challenges faced additional hurdles this spring as voters in two out of seven peninsula towns declined to fund the school’s supplemental tuition request. To read more about the decisions, please see The Rising Tide’s previous coverage of the votes in Penobscotand Surry.
In December 2025, GSA announced it was anticipating a reduction in its overall workforce and originally said those changes would be announced in February. Officials announced the changes on May 28.
“This work was difficult. It required honest conversations about enrollment, programs, and how [GSA] organizes [itself]. But it was warranted, and the result is a clearer path forward,” the release said.
GSA officials did not respond to further questions.
The release said the outcomes of the conversations fall into three areas:
Program changes: GSA’s part-time French faculty member was eliminated, and the French program will “conclude” at the end of this academic year. Officials pointed to declining enrollment as the reason for the decision and said that no other academic programs will be “adversely affected.”
Students had appealed to the board of trustees to save the program. According to the school’s website, the only language to be offered in the 2026-27 school year will be Spanish.
Administrative reductions and voluntary retirement incentive: GSA reduced five full-time executive leadership positions to three and consolidated roles within the administrative department. They also offered a “voluntary retirement incentive” that “several long-serving employees accepted.” The school did not announce which long-serving employees took the offer.
With those changes, the school said it eliminated a total of three full-time positions, according to the press release. School officials have declined to share “specific roles or names” impacted by the changes, the release said.
Restructuring of remaining positions. Instead of filling vacant positions, officials “consolidated responsibilities and asked some existing staff to step into broader leadership,” the release said. The number of department heads has been reduced by half. The school said this reflects “a leaner, more collaborative academic leadership model.” Those changes include:
Billie L'Heureux will now serve as both Athletics Director and Dean of Students, combining two previously separate administrative roles.
Chrissy Allen will now serve as Director of Admissions, Enrollment, and Advancement, consolidating admissions and advancement into a single role.
Amy Strother will now serve as Coordinator of Communications, Marketing, and Career & Technical Education. Strother is also a partner at Waxwing, a consulting company in Blue Hill. The school has not clarified how her time will be divided between her company and the school.
Officials also said they have separately “posted and filled several positions that are not related to the reduction in force, the VRI, or the restructuring.” They said these positions “reflect retirements and personal life changes outside this process.” The school again declined to name the individuals or positions involved in the changes and asked the community to respect the “privacy due to staff whose circumstances are personal.”
The changes come on the heels of the announcement last month of a new head of school, Shelly Schildroth, a GSA alumna. Schildroth will take over from Dan Welch, who caught school officials by surprise when it was announced in January he had been accepted a job as a superintendent in another school district.