JAY — Spruce Mountain Adult Education is settled into its new quarters under the middle school gym.

Director Carrie Castonguay is hoping to make the center work even though there have been complaints from students about noise.

She is happy to have a space though it is not as big as she needs to offer the programming she had previously provided.

She now needs to take some classes into the community and schools.

She is looking at going out into the community as a positive move, she said.

There are only a few staff working and it will give them a better grounding and pulse of what is going on in the community and enable them to provide better programming, she said.

“The concerns are just coordinating everything and making sure everybody knows where everybody is and students are in the right place at the right time,” Castonguay said.

“The bad side is how do you staff it without making an academic or enrichment teacher feel isolated,” she said.

The center is the third largest interactive television site in the state that provides college courses through the Maine School and Library Network, she said.

The relocation was part of the proposed consolidation plan to move the program, known previously as RSU 36/Jay Adult Education out of the Cedar Street Learning Complex in Livermore Falls. The two school systems merged on July 1.

Castonguay said the new space offers less than half of the 3,000 square feet she needs.

“We’re taking the learning center classes out into the community,” she said. “There is no space available for us here during the day. In keeping with the vision of the new RSU, they’ve relocated central office staff and pre-(kindergarten) students and staff into our former learning center and with the closing of the Livermore Falls Middle School, there is no space available where we could have connectivity for ITV classes.”

Basketballs bouncing on the floor and running feet can be heard at times while students are taking courses.

Learning Center coordinator/administrative assistant Greg Bizier said there have been complaints from students taking ITV courses about the noise. Sometimes it is quiet but when school is in session and there are summer and evening programs running above, it is noisy, he said.

Castonguay said they are going to look into getting headphones for students.

College student, Jennifer Thomas, 36, of Livermore Falls who was taking an ITV course Wednesday, said it is more than the noise that disturbs her.

“It’s hard to hear. It’s not only the noise, it’s the vibrations,” Thomas said.

Castonguay received permission to hold day adult basic education classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays at Androscoggin Bank Community Room in Jay. On Mondays and Wednesdays they will be held in the Treat Memorial Library auditorium in Livermore Falls.

The adult education’s new quarters are shared with local cable access Channel 7, with the entrance at the side of the building facing Route 4.

Late afternoon and evening adult education classes will have to be held in schools in Jay and Livermore Falls, Castonguay said.

“We had our yearly strategy planning meeting last week and GED testing is going to be an issue,” she said. “We don’t have an approved place. The rules governing GED testing are very strict and again the noise level is going to be an issue.”

Students cannot leave an approved building site unless they go to another approved site for testing, she said.

“The way we had structured things is that we ran all of our learners through orientation sessions where we did assessments, explained adult education, did goal setting and explored career paths,” Castonguay said. “Now because of our lack of space, we’re trying to develop a new system for introducing our learners to adult education.”

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