MEXICO – Region 9’s new director, Brenda Gammon, wants to make sure the lines of communications are wide open between the vocational school and sending high schools.

She is scheduling regular monthly meetings with the principals of Mountain Valley High School, Telstar Regional High School and Dirigo High School. She is also organizing similar monthly meetings with the special education directors of the three districts.

As director, she already meets monthly with the superintendents of each of the districts.

“We want to keep communications open, to make commitments to issues brought up,” she said Tuesday morning.

She discussed the planned series of meetings at the Region 9 School of Applied Technology regular board meeting Monday night.

Although the planned regular meetings aren’t tied to the state’s mandate for administrative consolidation, she said such gatherings are certain to help as the districts work toward a merger plan.

Also on Monday, Gammon said the Personnel and Program committees of the board will soon start meeting to work on the two new vocational programs to be offered at the beginning of the next school year.

Region 9 is in the midst of a $4.8 million renovation and addition project at its River Road site. Vocational programs in automotive technology and early childhood development are the new offerings for next year.

Gammon said the committees must prepare for state certification of the programs, as well as decide what the programs will look like. For example, she said the committees will decide whether the automotive technology program will be one or two years, and whether it will teach basics, or specialty areas.

Certification of instructors must be worked out, and six- to 10-member advisory committees must also be organized for each new program.

She said the building project is on schedule, with beams ready to go up in a few days, and paving completed within a month. The Facilities Committee meets with the contractor on the fourth Thursday of each month at 9 a.m. to discuss the project’s progress.