DIXFIELD — The RSU 10 board welcomed new teachers to the district prior to its meeting  Monday.

Administrators, board members and Superintendent Craig King shared meals with the new staff as a way to get to know one another.

“The first day on the job and when you retire, you get a free meal,” joked King. “As professionals, you have a lot of responsibility preparing students for the world. Thanks for choosing this profession, and welcome to RSU 10.”

King said later that three positions remain open. A sixth-grade teacher for Hartford-Sumner Elementary School is expected to be named at the Sept. 23 meeting. Another sixth-grade position, for Dirigo Middle School, and the position of guidance counselor at Rumford Elementary School, will be readvertised.

Student enrollment is just over 2,700.

In other matters, following a 15-minute closed session, the contract of assistant superintendent and curriculum coordinator Gloria Jenkins was extended to July 1, 2015. During the first year of the contract, she will receive a 2.5 percent salary increase. Year two offers no increase. Jenkins currently earns $96,014 annually.

Jenkins presented a brochure describing the district’s new emphasis on individualized student learning. The program’s name is now Proficiency Based Education, a change from the former name of “mass customized learning.”

The brochure, targeted to parents, the board and other community members, aims to further describe the new educational perspective.

An update on progress being made in the district’s classrooms will be provided during an October board meeting.

The board appointed Lisa Millwood as a four-fifths-time districtwide school psychologist.

Special Services Director Clarissa Errington said her department had tried to meet the needs through contracting, but such an arrangement has not been successful.

Millwood will conduct student evaluations, testing and support the staff. If additional time is needed, a minimal amount of contracting for psychological services will be used, Errington said.

She said nearly 170 evaluations must be done.

The board also:

* Awarded the contract for financing a new school bus to Bangor Savings Bank at 2.55 percent interest. The bus cost $87,800 and is expected to arrive in about two weeks. The state will reimbursement the district for the cost at a later time.

* Learned that a new, districtwide transportation policy is needed. Transportation Director Kenny Robbins said each region — Dirigo in Dixfield, Mountain Valley in Rumford-Mexico, and Nezinscot in Buckfield, continue to operate with individual policies.

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