LIVERMORE FALLS — RSU 73 directors voted unanimously Thursday to send all eighth-graders to the high school in Jay in 2012-13.

The eighth-graders currently attend the adjacent Spruce Mountain Middle School in that town.

This is something that the board has talked about and the consensus is they would stay together rather than be split up between the two high schools, Chairwoman Denise Rodzen of Livermore Falls said.

The south campus of the Spruce Mountain High School in Livermore Falls will house students in grades 10 through 12 from Livermore and Livermore Falls.

Students in the upper grades can request to attend one high school campus or another.

Regional School Unit 73 board voted on Jan. 19 to close the Livermore Falls campus by June 30, 2013.

This means that both high school campuses will stay open in 2012. If a proposed addition is approved by voters and completed, students from both high schools would attend the Jay high school at some point during the 2012-13 school year.

Some teachers that teach freshmen classes from the south campus could be transferred to the Jay high school for the beginning of the new school year on July 1.

Administrators will discuss the process to see what staff would be transferred to the Jay campus, Superintendent Bob Wall said.

The board would also have a meet-and-consult session with union representatives, Superintendent Bob Wall said.

In other business, the board also voted to allow Wall to post and advertise for an adult education director. The district has been without one since the beginning of the year when former Director Carrie Castonguay took a similar job in Bridgton.

The district has entered into a partnership with RSU 9 in the Farmington area and RSU 52 in the Turner area for adult education programs.

Wall said it is time to hire a director to oversee the Spruce Mountain Adult Education Program.

“I think it is important to have our own adult education director,” he said.

The intent of the partnership was not to use the other district’s directors, he said.

It is to enhance course offerings, share resources and share instructors between the systems.

RSU 73 is looking to enhance its ITV courses and college connections, Wall said.

A job description, salary and compensation package will be brought to the board at 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 9, Wall said.

In other business, directors accepted with deep regret the resignation of longtime Livermore Elementary School secretary Judy Labbe at the end of the school year.

Rodzen said that her three sons were very fortunate to have Labbe as a secretary of their schools.

She nurtured every child that went through school, mothered them, baby-sat them and wiped their tears and noses, Rodzen said.

When she first read the agenda and saw her resignation, Rodzen said she felt as if the district was losing an arm or a leg.

“She will definitely be missed,” school Principal Robert Kahler said.

dperry@sunjournal.com

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