DIXFIELD — The RSU 10 board Wednesday night scheduled two workshops to discuss issues related to possible major changes in the 12-town school district.

Board Chairman Jerry Wiley opened the meeting with a moment of silence in honor and memory of the 20 children and six staff who were killed by a gunman last Friday at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

On Jan. 14, the board will work research submitted by consultants Planning Decisions which conducted a study of the enrollment trends by town and region in RSU 10. It’s a possible basis for transferring some children from one school to another to be closer to their homes, and possibly reconfiguring some of the 10 schools in the district.

Member towns of Regional School Unit 10 are Canton, Carthage, Dixfield, Peru, Buckfield, Hartford, Sumner, Byron, Mexico, Roxbury, Rumford and Hanover.

On Jan. 28, a workshop will be held on the meaning of full membership to the district, if the district should decide to join the Maine Cohort for Customized Learning.

At the beginning of each meeting, regular board business will be conducted and the workshop will follow.

The Jan. 14 workshop is tentatively scheduled after the 6:30 p.m. meeting in the community room of Dirigo High School.

The site for the Jan. 28 workshop has not been determined.

Joining the Maine Cohort of Customized Learning prompted a significant amount of comments from board members and staff.

Dirigo High School English teacher Charles Maddaus presented the board with what he said was his and other teachers’ objections to becoming full members of the move in the state to change the way education is taught through mass customized learning.

“An awful lot of outdated assumptions are made of what we do these days. We do an awful lot of work with our students,” he said.

He also was concerned that following prescribed methods for matching each child with his or her learning style could be a detriment to learning common core and national standards.

“We should recognize (these styles) but also challenge them to learn in a number of different ways. In the real world, people learn in different ways,” he said. “(Mass customized learning) ignores the key elements in the study of every discipline.”

Assistant Superintendent Gloria Jenkins said the benefits to becoming a full member in the Maine group brings financial benefits in the form of staff training, and more say in decisions and policies made at the state level.

As an associate member this school year, the district pays a prorated amount of $6,015. If RSU 10 becomes a full member, the annual fee would be $10,000.

She said 22 schools in Maine, and some colleges and universities are already full members.

Board member Betty Barrett said she agreed with Maddaus that much individualized teaching is already taking place in the district.

Maddaus said he was not against customized learning, but concerned about the excessive focus on the model and that the model did not focus on standards prescribed by the common core of learning tasks.

He questioned what would be given up by teachers to follow the checklist of learning by students under the customized learning model.

“Whenever we look at a new initiative, what do we give up?” he questioned.

Superintendent Tom Ward said one of the most significant aspects of customized learning, which calls for teaching a child to learn at his or her own speed, is the empowerment of students.

“It will take time. We don’t have all the answers,” he said.

Byron representative Judy Boucher then motioned to table the matter until a workshop can be held to further review the new educational initiative. The board approved the motion.