BETHEL — The SAD 44 board on Monday voted to consider combining the positions of building and grounds supervisor and transportation director early next year.

The recommendation, which will be acted on at the Jan. 9 meeting, comes as longtime building and grounds supervisor Burnie Rice submitted his resignation, effective Dec. 31. He is retiring.

Rice has served the district for 38 years.

Superintendent David Murphy said part of the recommendation calls for hiring another mechanic to work on or repair district school buses.

Transportation Director Ron Deegan will take on the duties of both positions early next year.

Also on Monday, the board voted to seek qualified contractors for a potential major facility and energy renovation project at the Telstar Middle/High School complex in Bethel.

The project would involve significant mechanical and energy savings work and would likely cost as much as $2 million.

The district has been approved for an interest-free $1.3 million loan under the Quality Schools program, and has set aside another $1.2 million to update the school, which is more than 40 years old. The final decision on whether the project will go ahead will be decided by district voters during a spring referendum.

The board will decide at its Jan. 9 meeting whether to continue planning for the project.

In other matters, the board learned that Crescent Park and Woodstock elementary schools have made adequate yearly progress in both mathematics and reading. Andover Elementary School made similar progress in reading, but not in math.

Murphy said that school will be on monitor status.

Adequate yearly progress is a mandate under the federal No Child Left Behind program.

Maine, along with many other states, has applied to the federal government to have some of the NCLB requirements waived.

The board also agreed to purchase a new air exchange device for Telstar Middle School at a cost of $11,200. Murphy said the funds will come from the building maintenance and capital improvement accounts.