Chris Cooper of Alna said July 7 he has gotten no reply to his June 25 letter to Good Will-Hinckley’s board, criticizing the reversal of its plans to hire lawmaker Mark Eves as president.

“I don’t anticipate I will,” Cooper said Tuesday.

Cooper’s letter credits the school and its residential program with possibly saving his son’s life while the boy attended there.

“Throughout his years with you we never questioned nor faulted the commitment, the dedication or the ability of any of the teachers, counselors and mental health professionals who guided him and us through our most difficult years ...,” the letter continues. “Not every boy or girl was saved, not every one successful in life, but hundreds will tell you ... that the instillation of decency, honesty and integrity were as or more important than the education in arts and sciences provided.

The letter calls on the board to return to its decision to hire Eves, made before Gov. Paul LePage came out against it.

LePage has defended his opposition to funding the school if Eves headed it.

“To provide half-a-million dollars in taxpayer funding to a charter school that would be headed by Maine’s most vehement anti-charter school politician is not only the height of hypocrisy, it is absolutely unacceptable,” LePage states in a June 25 press release.

When Cooper, a former Alna selectman, wrote his letter to the board, he knew he might not hear back, and at this point, he isn’t expecting to. He would have liked to send it to each board member individually, but figured the reasonable approach was to address it to the board and send it to the institution.

He also sent copies to area news organizations and others, including Maine District 13 Sen. Chris Johnson, D-Somerville.

Johnson commented on Cooper’s letter in an interview June 26.

“I think his letter arguing that the decision is in contrast to the school’s principles has a lot of merit,” Johnson said. LePage’s opposition to Eves’ hiring put the board in a spot it shouldn’t have been in, he added.

In the letter and again in an interview, Cooper described LePage’s stance as predictable; the board’s subsequent decision to seek a different president than the one it selected was the bigger deal to him, he said on Sunday, July 5.

“They were rolling over.”

Good Will-Hinckley explained the decision in statements released beginning June 24: “The basis for this decision is grounded in the institution’s desire not to be involved in political controversy that will divert attention away from our core mission of serving children and has the potential to jeopardize the future of our school ... The board’s first priority is to act in the best interest of students and educators alike and the Board’s actions reflect its unwavering commitment to them,” a June 24 release states.

Good Will-Hinckley staff said on July 6 that all media inquiries on the matter were being directed to Tom Janenda. In emails Monday, Janenda, of Elevate Consulting & Communications, provided Good Will-Hinckley’s statements as requested; when asked for comment on Cooper’s criticisms and for information on any other feedback the school has received, Janenda cited a statement from Good Will-Hinckley Board Chairman Jack Moore.