nation
Unabomber submits update to Harvard alumni book
More in nation

politics
Obama birth certificate OK'd by Arizona official
More in politics

local
Police dog finds ailing man in Lewiston
More in local

maine
No charges for passenger who caused jet diversion
More in maine

Dirigo Middle School to get literacy specialist

Eileen M. Adams, Staff Writer
Oxford Hills |
Wednesday, September 29, 2010

DIXFIELD — The Western Foothills school board unanimously agreed to hire a literacy specialist for Dirigo Middle School on Monday night.

That action brings the Dixfield school in line with similar services provided at Mountain Valley Middle School in Mexico and Buckfield Junior-Senior High School, which are also part of Regional School Unit 10.

Superintendent Tom Ward said the new position will not add to the district's budget because an educational technician III position will be eliminated and the Title I program has sufficient funds to make up the difference for a teaching position.

The board also approved a multitude of coaching appointments and several new teachers, educational technicians and other support staff.

Ward said a “shooter drill” is being planned by the Oxford County Emergency Management Agency for Oct. 26 at Mountain Valley Middle School. He said police and fire departments, Med-Care Ambulance Service, and several teaching staff, administrators and students will take part in the exercise.

“All the previous drills have been really valuable,” Ward said.

Last year, a drunken-driving drill involving young people with mock  injuries took place at Dirigo High School in Dixfield.

In other matters, a special board meeting has been set for 6:30 p.m.  Monday, Oct. 4, in the central office conference room for an expulsion hearing for a Mountain Valley Middle School boy.

Ward said the hearing is the result of an “altercation” between two boys at the beginning of a football game at Mountain Valley High School on Sept. 3. He said local police were involved, but he declined to provide additional details.

The board will meet once in October, on the 25th, at the Buckfield Junior-Senior High School cafeteria.

eadams@sunjournal.com

More from Oxford Hills

PHOTO: Green thumb 1 hour 47 min ago
Oxford Casino on track to open in early June 1 hour 47 min ago
Otisfield luncheon to feature apron theme 1 hour 47 min ago
Buckfield students display artwork 3 hours 17 min ago
RSU 10 taxes going up, despite significant cuts 4 hours 17 min ago
more

Stay informed — Get the news delivered for free in your inbox.

I'm interested in ...

In order to make comments, you must verify your account.

In order to comment on SunJournal.com, you must use your real name and include the town in which you live in your profile. A member of our staff will call you to verify this information. To join in, fill out your user profile completely and check the box "please verify my status." We'll get back to you within one business day to verify your account.

Login or create an account here.

Our policy prohibits comments that are:

  • Defamatory, abusive, obscene, racist, or otherwise hateful
  • Excessively foul and/or vulgar
  • Inappropriately sexual
  • Baseless personal attacks or otherwise threatening
  • Contain illegal material, or material that infringes on the rights of others
  • Commercial postings attempting to sell a product/item
If you violate this policy, your comment will be removed and your account may be banned.

Advertisement

Displaying comments, from newest to oldest

elle's picture

So, CommonSense, you feel

By elle, unverified — Wed, 09/29/2010 - 16:01

So, CommonSense, you feel that improving literacy skills within our district is not a priority? The goal behind the consolidation is to enhance opportunities for students in all of the schools, not to take opportunities away from them. Let's stop counting our pennies for a moment and think about what is truly important.

CommonSense's picture

To do less than consolidate is unconscionable.

By CommonSense, unverified — Thu, 09/30/2010 - 00:50

Elle, Do you honestly believe that running three (3) seperate high schools with enrollments with continuously declining enrollments currently standing at 443 (Mountain Valley), 335 (Dirigo) and 80 (Buckfield) is good for our students education? Mountain Valley High School was designed to accomodate 850 students! When it was built and up through the then Rumford High School class of 1981s graduation the high school was only grades 10-12! At that time, the school provided 3 full-time guidance counselors, 1 principal and 2 assistants with 2 full-time secretaries. There was a full-time psychology teacher. There were three full-time foreign language teachers, teaching four year Latin, French and Spanish programs. All three languages were also available to 8th and 9th graders at the Junior High which was bursting at the seams. There were two full-time music teachers, one instrumental and one choral. There was a drama department, imagine. A full-time art teacher. Three, yes four, full-time industrial arts people to teach drafting, a automotive, metal trades, and wood shop to every student with even a casual interest. You could take a class so you could have basic home fixit life skills not just if you were going to NOVA to have a career. With 850 sophmores, juniors and seniors biology, chemistry, meteorolgy, astronomy, geology, anatomy and physiology, and physics were taught every year! There were full classrooms of students in math, business math, algebra I, algebra II, geometry, triganometry, computer courses including programing, calculus and advanced math every year! There was a full business department with shorthand, typing, computer applications, business practices (APEX), and accounting and you didn't have to be in the business program to take a class that would benefit you your whole life. The English department was amazing in its literature offerings, business English, grammar and composition, even writing courses. There was something for everyone, at every level and ability and it worked because of the economy of scale. It is impossible to offer 80 students in grades 9-12 what was offered to the Rumford High School 10-12 graders in 1980-1981 with 850 students filling the halls. Combine the student body of Mountain Valley, Dirigo and Buckfield and you have 850 students again and you could bring it all back. By combining the population into one building you elliminate the duplications, the under utilized services from three buildings become fully utilized service in one. Three cafeteria services with all the overhead, becomes one. Three administrative teams gets reduced to one. Fractional classes become full classes so teacher time is better utilized and more classes can be offered allowing for greater flexibility in scheduling, student need and interests.

I do not believe that replicating every program that was in each of the pre-merger districts into each of the RSU facilities in order to achieve uniformity and "fairness" is good for or "fair" to any of our kids. Merging the facilities to achieve a workable economy of scale so we can offer our children what they need to succeed in life, work and further education is mandatory, doing anything less is unconscionable.

nonstop_mama's picture
verified

i can (topically) agree with the consolidation..

By Jenna Hart, verified user — Fri, 10/01/2010 - 20:07

HOWEVER.... you want to bus kids from WHERE? I went to Mt. Blue. The freshman were not there when I graduated. Grades 10, 11, 12 attended. They were, and still are, bussing kids in from Weld, New Vineyard.... far reaching towns. Kids from Weld got on the bus (a high school student mind you) at 5:30 in the morning to make 8 o'clock classes. Got ON the bus.... not got up, but ON THE BUS. When I lived in Brettuns (just outside of Eat Livermore), my 4th grader had to get on the bus at 6:15 to get to school by 8. (that was the first year SAD 36 tried what they called the "Dirigo Bussing Schedule") At what point does practicality take over? Do you want your little 5 or 6 year old, living on the outskirts of Buckfield or Sumner to have to get up at 5 or 5:30 am to get on the bus by 6??? Tom Ward was the Principal from my alma matter..... I think he did an ok job... Now my kids go to school here at Dirigo and I was GLAD to see him as Super. If you dont like what you are refering to as "duplication of services" I am sure that the State of Maine would gladly "refund some of your tax dollars because you do not have a school aged child" (that is a widely heard statement among Baby Boomers). The public in general complains that children graduate from EVERY school in the U.S. EVERY year that cannot read or write on an accurate grade level; some not at all.... yet that SAME public LOUDLY complains when they have to pay school taxes.... I dont get it.... PUBLIC SCHOOLS= DANGED IF YOU DO, DANGED IF YA DONT.

CommonSense's picture

Padded budget

By CommonSense, unverified — Wed, 09/29/2010 - 01:39

So Ward padded the Title I program and included and unneeded Ed Tech III Position in the budget so the taxpayers and will use that money to fund the NEW literacy specilist position and the taxpayers are supposed to be happy about this? How much more padding and how many other extra positions are in this budget the taxpayers are getting gigged for? This RSU thing is NOT saving we taxpayers under the Tom Ward plan it is costing us more and more and more as he adds every program and position at any of the schools to all of the others for "fairness." How about subtracting instead? How about subtracting whole schools? If you put all the middle school students together at one facility, you wouldn't have needed to hire a literacy specialist for uniformity and you could have illinated the administration, cafeteria services, library services, guidance services, and maintenance for starters from three buildings down to those at one. You could have eliminate a bunch of teachers who have undersized class (are there any that are not at Buckfield) consolidating into full classes and even offered some courses not possible cutting the teaching staff by at least one third.

Times are tough, we need to be watching our pennies and that is not to say fly out the door. Padding budgets including unnecessary positions in the budget and adding positions "for uniformity" is just plain wrong. Tom, we need our kids educated, ready to go to work or college when they graduate and they are neither after 13 years at RSU 10. Time to change the way you are going about the business of operating our education system

Advertisement

business
Oxford Casino on track to open in early June
More in business

lifestyle
Otisfield luncheon to feature apron theme
More in lifestyle

opinion
Cutting census a bad idea from a sad Congress
More in opinion

sports
Softball: Hornet rally past Raiders
More in sports