MEXICO – The Region 9 board on Tuesday tentatively adopted a new cooperative agreement pending approval by the vocational school’s lawyer.

The new agreement, which outlines cost sharing and board representation for each sending district or unaffiliated town, was changed to meet the reconfiguration of the newly created Western Foothills School District, also known as Regional School Unit 10.

Prior to the Foothills creation, the 11 board members came from SAD 43, SAD 21, SAD 44, and the unaffiliated towns of Gilead, Hanover and Upton.

The size of the board will remain the same, at 11.

SAD 44, Bethel, will retain its two members, and Gilead and Upton will keep one representative each.

SAD 43, SAD 21 and Hanover are members of the new Foothills regional district. They will retain a total of seven members, but no more than two of the seven may serve from the same town at the same time.

Votes are weighted for each sending member, with Gilead at 7, Upton with 3, Foothills school district at a total of 728, and SAD 44 with a total of 244.

A third district that joined with the Foothills district, SAD 39 in Buckfield, sends its vocational students to Region 11 at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School in Norway/Paris.

Each of Region 9’s member districts must now approve the cooperative agreement before it becomes policy. The board is expected to act on final approval at next month’s meeting.

Board Chairman Norman Clanton said all approvals must be in place prior to the end of June when the Foothills district becomes official and SAD 43 and SAD 21 no longer exist separately.

In other matters:

• Adult Education Director Nancy Allen said 16 students in her program are expected to graduate on June 7; another 18 may be eligible prior to that date.

• Student Services Coordinator Cheryl Ellis said 183 students from the sending schools have applied for a slot in one of the vocational offerings for next fall. She said the automotive and early childhood development programs, which began this school year, are filled.