School year off to good start

LIVERMORE FALLS — The school year got off to a great start with student enrollment up slightly, RSU 36 Superintendent Sue Pratt said Thursday.

At the beginning of the 2009-10 school year enrollment was 948 students and this year it is 953. It had been projected to drop this year.

“We’re going in the right direction,” she told Regional School Unit 36 Board of Directors.

She said she commended the staff for the smooth beginning and what has already been accomplished.

Pratt said busing went smoother than in year’s past, according to Transportation Director Ken Vining.

It has been a little challenging this week, Pratt said, due to a major water pipe leak at the middle school Tuesday, the day after the long weekend.

She e-mailed the board prior to its meeting about the situation and some members of the Buildings and Grounds Committee went up to see the damage.

A 2-inch water main broke in the wall of the girls’ bathroom on the main floor and water went down through the walls and ceiling tiles to the ground floor where some classrooms and library are located.

It was a significant amount of water, she said.

“We were lucky,“ director Ann Souther said. “It could have happened over the weekend.

School officials called a cleaning service to clean the water up and dry things out. The insurance company was also called, and it looks like the district will be responsible for its $1,000 deductible and insurance will cover the rest, Pratt said.

The tiles in the suspended ceilings need to be replaced and the bathroom floor needs to be replaced on the ground floor, Souther said. There is also plaster on a ceiling in a classroom that needs to be replaced and repainted.

Water just barely went into the library. It also missed computers as it dropped down, Souther, of Livermore Falls, said.

The dehumidifier that was put on the bottom level last school year helped with the moisture problems, she said.

Middle School Principal Robert Kahler said students and staff didn’t miss a beat.

It truly did not interrupt the school day, he said.

Pratt also told the board that there are nine high school students who are going to Jay High School to participate in courses there, including six in the plumbing program.

There are 36 students going to Foster Regional Applied Technology Center in Farmington for programs, seven students taking web-based classes, and two students taking college courses.

Fourteen Jay students are traveling to Livermore Falls to participate in programs, she said.

Pratt informed the board that the district would receive $120,634.26 from the federal jobs bill.

The purpose of the bill is to allow school systems to rehire, retain or reinstate positions that may have been lost due to budget constraints. The money does not have to be spent for 18 months. She recommended the district hold on to the money in case there is a curtailment of state funding in the future and positions need to be eliminated.

The board agreed with her recommendation.

Pratt also reviewed newsletters that were sent home with students. One was giving the facts on the consolidation process with Jay and another introducing new administrators. It also contains contact numbers, family educational rights, names of school board members and other information parents may need.

There was what appeared to be a spellcheck error in Director Elaine LaPointe’s name that turned her last name into Appointee. Pratt apologized for the error.

dperry@sunjournal.com