FARMINGTON — Community members with an interest in education are being asked to step up and volunteer to work on Mt. Blue Regional School District’s long-range plan that will mold the future of educating children.

In the spring, more than 80 parents, educators, business people and volunteers attended a workshop in Farmington and came up with dozens of ideas for ways to improve student achievement, encourage community involvement, and keep education rigorous and relevant.

The next step in the goal-setting process is to form committees that will research the ideas, look at the achievements of school districts across the nation and around the world, and come up with recommendations that will be presented to the school board over the next two to three years.

Parent volunteers are needed for committees that will explore the advantages and disadvantages of a longer school year and longer student day, and will look at class sizes.

“They will look at research and will come back to the board with a report,” Superintendent Michael Cormier said.

“We think it is important to have parents at all levels be involved. We want to get voices from the community in the discussion to talk about what these changes will mean for families,” he said.

School Board Director Monique Claverie of Farmington, who serves on the long-range planning committee, said she encourages anyone who is passionate about quality education to step up and be involved.

“There are a lot of philosophies and goals to explore that have the potential to change the way we educate the children in this district. We think a lot of those philosophies are gaining traction nationwide,” she said.

“I think the next few years could offer some exciting opportunities in the field of education. And if people volunteer to serve on these committees, there is the potential for having a positive impact on educating our students,” she said.

“The more people involved in the process, the more successful it will be,” she said.

She agreed implementing the goals will depend on budgets and resources and community support.

“We would love to have parents, community members and people from the University of Maine at Farmington involved. It will be exciting to be involved in something like this,” she said

The long-range plan and a timeline for the project can be found at www.mtbluersd.org. Click on “district information” on the left and scroll down to “long-range plan.”

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