RANGELEY – The Union 37 School Board voted last week to add $5,400 to the budget to pay for legal fees and $750 for a superintendent search.

The money will cover expenses related to the resignation of Superintendent Ken Coville.

The board also approved $145,887 for the superintendent’s salary and benefits, one administrative staff person, superintendent conferences, travel and supplies, rental and a portion of utility costs for an office at the Rangeley Lakes Regional School. The money is for the 2004-2005 school year.

The percentage share for each town is: Rangeley 62.22 percent, Rangeley Plantation 13.82 percent, Dallas Plantation 12.58 percent, Sandy River Plantation 6.96 percent, Lincoln Plantation 2.56 percent and Magalloway Plantation 1.86.

After the business meeting, board members, teachers and parents discussed the superintendent’s position and possible structural changes.

“I have four kids in this school. I am not going to do anything to harm them,” board member Russell Brooks said. “We don’t have a hard core plan. I think there are ways to make things more efficient and to do something about the cost of education.”

Board member Larry Carrier said, “We need to maximize the efficiency of the routine tasks.”

“It takes two administrators [the superintendent and the principal] to run this school,” board member Joanne Chapman of Rangeley said.

“We can’t subtract anything from what we have,” Bill Hart added.

Principal Donald Salm opposed cutting the hours of the superintendent.

“You can not run a school, you can’t administer a school, if you are not here. There is plenty of work to go around, but we all need to be on the same page,” he said.

“In a small school we have fewer students, but we have all the same tasks and responsibilities,” Sherry Connally said.

“We know one thing, we need a superintendent,” board member John Benoit said. “We have to have one in place by July.”

No decisions were made on the issue Thursday night.

The board plans to meet next with the Department of Education to learn how the Governor’s Task Force on Efficiency in Education might impact the school.

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