POLAND — The Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy has awarded a $5,000 grant to the Mechanic Falls-Minot-Poland Adult and Community Education program, Regional School Unit 16 Adult Education Director Nancy Watson told the School Committee on Tuesday.

“Jenny Rose, one of the instructors in our program, wrote the grant and last week traveled down to Biddeford to accept the award from Barbara Bush herself,” Watson said.

She said the grant will be used help the tri-town community develop the partnerships and resources needed to implement a family literacy program this year. The idea, Watson said, is to get parents and their children reading and learning together, “the children modeling on the example their parents set.”

School Superintendent Dennis Duquette reported that preparations for the expanded Whittier Middle School are advancing on schedule. Officials are securing building permits and Duquette estimated the modular should be in by the third week of July.

During this year’s budget process, the School Committee, with considerable public input, determined that the most economical way – and the one preserving the most educational opportunities – to educate the district’s middle-school students was to bring seventh- and eighth-grade students from all three towns under one roof.

Business Manager Rick Kusturin said work on the building to house the new biomass boiler, which will heat the middle and high schools, is also waiting on necessary permits. He noted that voters in the three towns, in last week’s referendum, approved going ahead with the building for the boiler by a 2-to-1 margin.

The new boiler is scheduled to be ready in time for this winter’s heating season.

The school board also approved a number of new hires for the coming school year. Susan Prince was named the district’s new special education director, replacing Barbara Hasenfus who retired at the end of the school year.

Named to the Poland Regional High School faculty were Jim Bywater, who joins the math department, and Kristin Ross, a special education teacher. Sara Norsworthy Otis was appointed guidance counselor at Poland Community School and Ell Fanus will run the district’s K–8 gifted and talented program.

Tyler Tracy was announced as Poland Regional High School’s new varsity boys’ basketball coach and David Clarke was named girls’ junior varsity basketball coach.

Duquette acknowledged six of the district’s graduating eighth-graders who received the New England League of Middle Schools scholar leader awards: from Elm Street School: Elizabeth Callahan and Mariah Dufour; from Minot Consolidated School: Shawn Mitchell and Delaney Woodford; and from Whittier Middle School: Rebecca Meservier and and Brandon Wood.