RUMFORD – Launching an alternative education program for the middle school, adding a social worker and at least one educational technician were among the requests by SAD 43 administrators at Monday night’s board meeting.
The SAD 43 board began listening to requests as part of the budget development process for the 2006-2007 school year.
Superintendent Jim Hodgkin said the board heard all the original requests. Now, a significant amount of work must be done.
“This is the worst case scenario,” he said.
Few dollar figures were put on the proposals at Monday’s presentations. Instead the principals made their requests for equipment and possible program changes.
At Mountain Valley Middle School, Principal Charles Lever said there’s a need for an alternative education program for grades six to eight. To begin such a program, he said two teaching positions in the regular education program can be reduced because of a drop in enrollment. Those two positions, he said, could then be used for the proposed new alternative program.
He said about 15 students, with a priority given to eighth-graders during the first year, would be served under the proposed program.
He said the school also needs a new intercom system, an electronic keyboard and several instruments so more students can participate in the music program.
Also proposed was starting a junior varsity baseball and junior varsity softballs teams, at a cost of about $5,000.
At the Pennacook Learning Center Day Treatment Program, special services director Diane Taylor-Moore said a second social worker is needed to serve the 20 pupils in the program, as well as an educational technician III. She also requested funds to petition off a portion of the former Virginia Elementary School, where the day treatment program is now housed, so that younger students can be further separated from older ones.
Mountain Valley High School Principal Matthew Gilbert said his overall requests were down about $16,000 this year. He anticipates fewer dollars for textbooks, more money for field trips, and some furnishing replacements in the high school office.
Hodgkin said his goal was to reduce the town of Byron’s school tax because if its taxes were reduced, then the remaining three towns’ taxes would also be reduced.
The current operating budget is $13,975,000.
Comments are no longer available on this story