🔒Deal to save York County boatbuilding school runs aground, at least for coming year

A hoped-for solution to the Landing School of Boatbuilding & Design’s financial struggles will not save the upcoming academic year, though the school continues to evaluate its future. A potential merger with Fairhaven, Mass.-based Northeast Maritime Institute-College of Maritime Science had been in negotiations since May, but late Monday, Landing School President John Caron announced the board had “determined that this option was not viable.” The Arundel-based school has informed incoming students, faculty and staff that it will cease academic programs for the 2026-27 academic year, “as the board of trustees continues to evaluate the institution’s future,” Caron said in an email. “We understand that this has been a difficult and confusing sequence of events for our students, faculty, staff and community,” Caron said. “In exploring an acquisition, the board of trustees felt a responsibility to pursue every reasonable effort to find a path forward. “Our priority now is supporting incoming students, faculty, and staff through next steps.”

'Mission-driven school'

Founded in 1978 by John Burgess and Cricket Tupper, the school has graduated close to 1,800 students through accredited degree programs in yacht and commercial design, marine systems and both wooden and composite boatbuilding. But enrollment had dwindled from a high of 83 students in 2014 to 33 in the most recent graduating class. Caron had said back in May, when the schools’ permanent closing had seemed imminent, that rising costs, shifting workforce trends and changing perceptions of higher education “have hit small, mission-driven schools like ours especially hard.” The school will refund deposits and consider reimbursement requests for certain expenses on a case-by-case basis. Caron added that incoming students will be contacted by admissions for further guidance and that the school will also help to identify other educational options. “We are so proud of the work the Landing School has accomplished in the almost fifty years since first accepting and teaching students in the art of boatbuilding and we hope those accomplishments can continue to be celebrated,” said Susan Swanton, chair of the board of trustees. At this point, the school is not accepting applications for future academic years, but updates about future programming or admissions will be shared on the school’s website.