DIXFIELD - SAD 21 board members learned Tuesday night that an educational technician and baseball coach who had been on paid administrative leave after being charged with a sex crime has resigned.

Donald L. Hebert, 33, of Rumford, was placed on leave soon after he was arrested Sept. 14 by Rumford police Lt. Mark Cayer and charged with sexually assaulting a Mountain Valley High School girl. Hebert also was a junior varsity basketball coach in neighboring SAD 43 during the 2006-2007 school year.

SAD 21 placed him on paid leave while the investigation into the case continued.

Superintendent Tom Ward said Tuesday that Hebert's decision to resign, effective Dec. 31, came following negotiations between lawyers for both sides.

The district agreed to continue paying Hebert's health insurance premiums for his family until the end of the year, a cost Ward estimated at about $2,500.

He said the decision to allow continued health insurance coverage was made to give the family time to find other coverage.

After his arrest, Hebert was released on $800 cash bail. He's scheduled to be arraigned at 8 a.m. on Jan. 24 in Oxford County Superior Court in Paris.

Also on Tuesday, the board heard a presentation by Bob Connors, who most likely will become the facilitator for SADs 21, 44, 43, and Union 37 merger talks.

Connors spoke before the SAD 43 board last week, and will attend the board meetings of SAD 44 and Union 37 later in the month.

Some SAD 21 board members are concerned that representatives from the board, town and communities are not yet chosen, when an initial plan for consolidation is due at the state Department of Education by Dec. 1.

"I'm concerned that we're dragging our feet," Dixfield school board member Leslie Skibitsky said.

Ward said he plans to contact the town manager and chairmen of the four towns that comprise SAD 21 to ask them to choose community and town official representation.

In the meantime, he encouraged board members from the four towns to get together to talk about their individual community's representation on the soon-to-be-organized Regional Planning Committee.

Members want to get some commitments from town officials, school board and community members at the Oct. 22 SAD 21 meeting. That is also the date that Connors will be speaking with the SAD 44 board.

Meetings of the Regional Planning Committee are expected to start in early November.

The board also approved an additional $52,000 for the construction of the new elementary school in Peru.

Ward said the money will be used to remove boulders on and under a planned athletic field. With the approval, the contingency fund now has about $200,000 remaining. Some additional money may be added to that through an anticipated insurance settlement, Ward said.