LIVERMORE FALLS — RSU 73 directors voted Thursday to approve 13 delayed-start Wednesdays at the high schools so that teachers from both campuses can work together in professional learning-group work, Superintendent Bob Wall said Monday.

Jay and RSU 36 consolidated on July 1. There are currently two high school campuses, one in Jay and one in Livermore Falls, in Regional School Unit 73.

The 13 work sessions for teachers will be used to incrementally build the model for a new high school with improved student learning, Spruce Mountain High School North Campus Principal Gilbert “Specs” Eaton said.

A Leadership Team made up of staff members from both schools has been working since the summer “to establish both a vision and a road map for a collegial school consolidation resulting in exemplary learning for our community’s students,” he said.

Students at both north and south campuses, if they are transported by bus to school, could go to school at the regular time on the delayed-start days, Eaton said Monday. They could also arrive early if they want to, he said, and take part in some of the activities planned.

If students drive themselves to school or come to school by any other means of transportation, they would not have to arrive until 8:50 a.m., Eaton said.

There will be a combination of tutorial and enrichment activities for those students who arrive early on those days, he said. There is also a plan for University of Maine at Farmington student teachers to provide tutoring and homework/project help to students, Eaton said.

There will also be opportunities for supervised physical activities and time. And if students wish, they could submit a community service activity for that time, he said.

At the most, students would lose 17 minutes of each class during a month, Eaton said. Each class will run for 60 minutes instead of 77 minutes on the first and second Wednesdays of each full month, according to the written presentation.

The schedule was worked out to minimize loss of class time, he said.

Delayed-start Wednesdays are scheduled for: Oct. 5, 12; Nov. 2, 9; Dec. 7; Jan. 4, 11; Feb. 1; March 7, 14; April 4; and May 2, 9.

Staff would be working on literacy training, developing more responsible report cards, academic improvement strategies, assessment data analysis and other aspects of education to improve student achievement, Wall said.

During the summer, the team worked to gather data, establish goals, map strategies and lay out opportunities for all faculty to become active participants in using the merger as a true opportunity to redesign and strengthen what they deliver for the benefits of students, according to Eaton’s written presentation.

The Leadership Team has established that Spruce Mountain High School will be a school where students will have choices, Eaton said.

“Its culture will assure a school where everyone is respected. Its achievement goal will be a 10-plus percent improvement in the schools’ SAT test scores. Its attainment goal will be an 88-plus percent graduation rate. Its consolidation goal will create a school where we speak with one voice about what we teach, how we teach and what we expect students to learn,” according to Eaton.

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