BETHEL – Classes in SAD 44 begin today, and five new staff members will be in attendance, Superintendent David Murphy said.

“We’re pretty much starting off with very few changes and trying to hit the ground running,” Murphy said Tuesday afternoon. “Our buildings are all shining and ready for kids to arrive.”

About 950 to 970 students, the same amount as last year, are expected from the district towns of Andover, Bethel, Greenwood, Newry and Woodstock.

New faces include: Jillian Manzer, a half-time athletic director and half-time educational technician; grade 8 science teacher Susanne Hicks; speech pathologist Cindy Vasko; Woodstock Elementary School educational technician Cindy Bobbe; and Leslie Bonney as the district social worker.

“This is the first year that we’ve had such a small number of new employees,” Murphy said.

Continued collaboration with SAD 43 will add both a shared food service director, Jeanne LaPointe, and a shared special education director, Paula Leavitt.

This year marks the debut for a social worker.

The positions of business manager, special education director and curriculum director were eliminated to save money so the district will hire people to do the work on an hourly basis.

Due to uncertainties involved in upcoming regionalization with SAD 21 and SAD 43, there were also no major capital improvement projects.

Although, one is waiting in the wings.

In June, a majority of voters OK’d a referendum article that moved $700,000 into a capital projects account. Murphy said the district’s Facilities Committee is working with Bethel architect James Reuter to design a new entryway for Telstar’s middle and high schools and replacement windows for energy efficiency.

Both projects will either be included as referendum articles for voters to consider in November or next June. Voters must decide how to allocate the money for projects.

The district is also making a larger commitment to have its students share classes with teachers around the state through two-way audio and visual conferencing.

“It’s something new for us and a good opportunity for our kids to expand their classes,” Murphy said. Telstar High School Spanish teacher Merrie Lee Ojeda will also participate, teaching students simultaneously in three or four different high schools around the state.

And unlike last school year, which ended in June with stringent security measures at Telstar following a rash of bomb threats, incoming students and staff won’t be forced to walk through a metal detector when entering or leaving the school, Murphy added.