A petition given to selectmen will be passed to MMA to make sure it meets legal standards.
MINOT – School Committee officials said they support a parent group’s efforts to push forward a $2 million expansion at the Minot Consolidated School and that they have no problems with selectmen dealing directly with a parent group.
Selectmen Dean Campbell and Steve French told the School Committee Tuesday night that their board had received a draft copy of a petition that would place the expansion plan on the March town meeting warrant. Selectmen were asked to determine whether the petition’s wording passed legal muster.
“We are feeling stuck in the middle. If you folks aren’t thoroughly behind us, we want to know,” Campbell said.
Aware that municipalities have to take certain steps with school development or expansion projects, French said selectmen would have the petition reviewed by Maine Municipal Association officials to ensure the town would be proceeding in a proper manner.
French stressed that he wanted to make sure lines of communication were open.
“Speaking as the town’s fire chief, if some group came along and wanted to add bowling alleys onto the back of the fire station, I certainly would want to be involved,” said French.
School Committee Chairman Lisa Bridgham said she was comfortable with the parent group going directly to selectmen with a petition rather than having the group approach the school committee and have the school committee present the expansion project.
“I support the political process, let the votes fall the way they might,” said Bridgham.
School Committee member Colleen Quint added that the matter was a citizen initiative and that such involvement was good for the school and good for the town.
When Campbell asked the School Committee whether it supported the expansion project, noting that it would be expected to vote on the issue so its recommendation could be included in the town meeting warrant, he met resistance.
“The article is being presented to you (the Board of Selectmen). We shouldn’t have to vote on it,” said School Committee member Steve Holbrook.
In other business, the School Committee approved a contract with Hodgdon Well Drilling to drill a new well to supply water for the Minot Consolidated School. Problems with the old well, which had been failing the past few years, caused officials to close school for the holidays a few days early. Output at the well, which had consistently produced 30 gallons per minute, had fallen to 10 gallons per minute – an amount insufficient to meet demand.
Officials hope the new well will be ready for the reopening of school, Monday, Jan. 5. The only real foreseen hitch is in obtaining certification that the water is fit to drink. Testing can only be done by state laboratories and the holidays could make scheduling tight.
Principal Dawn Bilodeau is applying for grants to pay for the new well. If the grants don’t come through, a request to cover the costs will be made at March town meeting.
Bilodeau also reported that the hot lunch account is running low and that he may have to appeal to the state for permission to raise hot lunch prices from $1.50 to $1.75 in order to keep the program solvent.
School Superintendent Nina Schlikin gave Bilodeau an award from the state Department of Education in recognition that the school’s eighth-graders have shown consistent high achievement in reading on the Maine Educational Assessment tests.
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