Oxford Hills, along with the rest of the world, began to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic in 2022 as virus vaccine eligibility became more widespread and treatments developed to adequately treat the disease. But Maine School Administrative District 17 entered the year rocked by scandal, misconduct, external and internal investigations and cratering morale within months of hiring a new superintendent, Monica Henson, who had spent most of her career overseeing charter and institutional schools in the southeast.

Elsewhere, annual traditions and events continued to comeback after the pandemic, giving groups and individuals of all ages welcome reasons to once again gather and celebrate.

The Harrison Food Bank continued to expand its services to families throughout the region, becoming the largest food pantry in Maine and securing a $388,000 to help the organization meet its increasing demand.

Below are some of the people and events that made headlines around the region.

January
As Oxford Hills students returned to class following Christmas break, many went right back out into quarantine as reported cases of COVID 19 in schools approached 200 cases.

Maine School Administrative District 17 spun into chaos when the Oxford Hills Education Association presented a list of 27 complaints against Superintendent Monica Henson along with a no confidence vote during the school board’s Jan. 18 meeting. Several educators accused Henson of improperly restraining a student, covering up her actions and embarking on a months-long intimidation and retaliation campaign against employees at Agnes Gray Elementary School in West Paris.

After Henson’s actions and the depths she went to keep the situation quiet were exposed, the child’s parent, Agnes Gray staff who witnessed the assault and SAD 17’s school board filed complaints with Oxford County Sheriffs Department and Maine Department of Health and Human Services, resulting in criminal and child abuse investigations. Henson was placed on paid administrative leave and the district’s chief curriculum officer Heather Manchester was appointed action superintendent.

February
Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School Principal Ted Moccia announced that he would retire at the end of the 2021-22 school year. Moccia started his Oxford Hills career in 1990 as a teacher and coach. He was recruited to fill a vacant assistant principal post in 1998 and became principal of the high school in 2005. Moccia and his wife Susan, also an Oxford Hills educator, would relocate to South Carolina.

When a solar energy developer was able to put through plans to create a 20-acre solar farm holding 15,000 panels in 2021, Otisfield voters voted for a six-month moratorium on them. The moratorium would allow the town’s planning board to create a town-wide ordinance that future developers would need to comply with.

The Norway Snowshoe Festival, canceled in 2021 due to COVID-19, returned to Oxford Hills. The festival was started in 2010 to honor Norway’s heritage as the snowshoe capital of the world. Snowshoe manufacturing was a vital part of the community’s economy between 1873 and 1985.

Oxford Hills Tech School senior Lucy Tardiff was one of 25 winners of the New York Times annual student cartoon contest in February, depicting emotional chaos that students faced trying to get through pandemic times. Tardiff’s drawing was among 4,000 entries to the contest.

March
Following release of the feature film The Tender Bar, Oxford Hills native and alumnus Matt Delamater sat with the Advertiser Democrat to talk about local roll models who impacted his choice to become a stage and screen actor, the novelty of auditioning for roles through Zoom during the pandemic, and working alongside Oscar winners like George Clooney and Ben Affleck.

Two years after COVID-19 swept through Maine, closing schools for months and forcing students to adapt to learning through public health mandates, SAD 17 school board directors unanimously approved a change in policy from mandatory masking in district buildings to optional, a move received like a breath of fresh air by 4,000 students and school employees.

The Oxford Hills community came together and to the rescue of an elderly Norway couple were struggling through winter with health problems, no heat and no hot water in their water-damaged house. Danielle Wadsworth mobilized people and local businesses to clean, repair and restore the home so the couple could safely return and live with independence and security. The incident led Wadsworth to launch “Hope for Humanity,” a community non-profit dedicated to helping neighbors in need.

Ethan Rioux-Poulios of Woodstock was arrested March 4 on multiple charges after he caused several accidents during a police chase through four Oxford Hills towns. The driver of one vehicle Rioux-Poulios smashed into was hospitalized with critical injuries. Rioux-Poulios was on probation at the time of the chase for a 2019 manslaughter conviction after he killed a driver in West Paris while fleeing Oxford County Sheriffs Office deputies. Information gathered during the investigation resulted in several other people being arrested for drug crimes.

One of three agencies investigating former Oxford Hills Superintendent Monica Henson for physically abusing a minor student, the Oxford County Sheriff’s Office, sent its completed report to Oxford County district attorney’s office. Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services simultaneously conducted its own investigation of the incident, as did an internal investigation initiated by Maine School Administrative District 17. The investigations were launched three months after the incident became public knowledge and Henson was suspended by the school board.

SAD 17 school board directors voted to continue participating in the Western Maine Regional Program for Children with Exceptionalities. The program had been under scrutiny by suspended Superintendent Monica Henson, with some directors taking issue with the expense of sending students with higher needs to out of school buildings. Other western Maine school districts SAD 72 Fryeburg and SAD 44 Bethel also participate in the WMRPCE.

Harrison Food Bank announced it had been awarded a $388,000 federal grant as part of the Build Back Better Plan. The funds would be used to restore the food bank’s parking lot, rewire the building and update its heating system, among other improvements. According to Operations Manager and founder Sandy Swett, hundreds of food-insecure families in Maine and New Hampshire call on the Harrison Food Bank every week for groceries and other necessities.

April
After a nine-month reign riddled with allegations of abuse of staff, improperly physically restraining a student, instigating cover-ups of her actions and motivating dozens of educators and administrators to leave Oxford Hills, embattled former Superintendent Monica Henson resigned from SAD 17. On her way out, Henson warned many individuals she intended to sue them for perceived offenses against her and characterized the events leading to her resignation as a character assassination.

Oxford Hills graduate and international boxing champion Amelia Moore returned to Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School to address students and share her story of hardship, emancipation and resilience. “A child adrift is one of the most lonely, isolating placed you can be,” Moore said, noting that a key person who inspired her as a child was an anonymous Hannaford employee who engaged her with kindness and created moments of stability that helped her cope and made her feel seen and valued.

Oxford residents of Tiger Hill Road attended a board of selectmen to complain about a marijuana grow facility that found a loophole allowing them to legally obtain a business license outside of the town’s commercial and mixed use zones. While Oxford’s ordinance is meant to prevent cannabis operations from taking root in residential neighborhoods, residents urged the town to tighten its requirements, including placing a limit on how many businesses are allowed to operate.

The Center for an Ecology-Based Economy relaunched 2030 Vision, its three-day gathering to promote its vision of climate justice, to coincide with Earth Day. Presenters at the conference included Oxford Hills climate activists, students and Lakotah Sanborn of the Penobscot nation as featured speaker.

Chris Farrar closed longtime Norway eatery Ari’s Pizza and Subs and sold the building, citing a desire to exchange 34 years of seven-day workweeks for quality time with family and grandchildren. He sold the Main Street storefront to Alex White, who opened his own sandwich shop, The Norway Pizza Exchange.

May
Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School saw a changing of the guard as Oxford Hills Technical School Director Paul Bickford was appointed to be the new principal, replacing Ted Moccia. Bickford graduated from OHCHS in 1990 and returned to commit his career as an educator and administrative leader.

Guy E. Rowe Elementary School in Norway was forced to close on May 11 for three days following a reported COVID-19 outbreak. District Superintendent Heather Manchester said the decision to close and revert to remote learning was due in large part to not enough staff being able to report for work.

Hebron Academy teacher Joshua Kangas imported a west coast-based program when he returned to western Maine after working in California for 11 years. The STEM program sees students build remote-controlled hydrogen cars that are race competitively on a global scale. After launching in September, Kangas secured a grant and began fundraising to build a race course at Hebron Academy with plans to make it a New England hub to help other schools create their own hydrogen car programs.

Project Graduation returned to SAD 17 for the first time in two years. Educators Jeni Jordan and Torrey Poland led a big effort to plan the senior class celebration on short time. Project Graduation is a national tradition for high school seniors that was originally launched in Oxford Hills back in 1980, after seven local students died in 1979 of alcohol and drug-related deaths during graduation season.

June
Stone-Smart Post #82 Norway raised an American flag donated by the family of World War II veteran Sgt. Vernon Brown during a Memorial Day ceremony. The life-long Oxford hills resident was drafted in to the U.S. Army in 1942 and served the duration of the war. He was a member of the American Legion for 56 years, serving as Stone-Smart’s post commander during the 1950s.

Oxford voters finally settled on a new municipal headquarters during annual town meeting, voting to purchase a 6,500 square foot building on Pottle Road from Stephens Memorial Hospital for $750,000, with another $300,000 earmarked for building renovations and updates. The purchase saved taxpayers from having to fund a new construction project that would have cost at least $5.4 million and take two or more years to complete.

The commencement ceremony for Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School was held at the Gouin Athletic Complex on June 11 despite an afternoon thunderstorm that drenched the field. The ceremony was the final one overseen by retiring Principal Ted Moccia and featured as its keynote speaker Jared Cash, an OHCHS alum who presides over the Muskie School of Public Service and serves as vice-chair on the district’s school board.

After Harrison voters rejected several 2022-23 budget articles during annual town meeting, officials called for a hearing and additional special town meeting to fund the town’s government for the new fiscal year. Residents balked at the proposed administrative budget, which was was set to increase 18.5% from the 2021-22 budget $625,000. The budget that was finally approved by voters had substantial cuts and compromises, including dropping a proposal for a fulltime fire chief and two per diem EMT/firefighters.

Otisfield voters passed its $2.27 million dollar budget during its annual town meeting on June 25, with all but two articles unanimously approved and minimal discussion on any. Spending would increase by $427,000 over the previous fiscal year and included an average of 8% raises to municipal staff.

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