POLAND — Principal Kim Spencer told the RSU 16 committee Monday that Minot Consolidated School has been nominated as a Blue Ribbon School.

“We can thank Arthur Reed and the school staff for setting this up,” Spencer said.

Reed retired as principal in June 2014.

Spencer said she heard of the nomination from the Maine commissioner of education earlier Monday.

“I’m not sure when we’ll know whether we are a Blue Ribbon School, this is a new process for us,” Spencer said.

Assistant Superintendent Kim Brandt said the school is only one of two in Maine to receive the nomination. Ultimately, the award is made by the United States Department of Education.

The School Committee also received copies of the school audit for the year ending June 30, 2014, and listened to a brief explanation of its contents by auditor Christian Sands.

Sands said RSU 16’s finances appeared to be in very good shape. The report indicates the district ended the year with a fund balance of $882,000. Sands said that because $275,000 of that amount had been allocated to the present fiscal year, officials have only about $607,000 available. This amount, he said, is about average for what a district the size of RSU 16 ought to be running.

The School Committee expressed some concern with the negative balance in the school lunch program. The audit showed that as of June 30, 2014, the account was about $72,000 in the hole.

Sands said the previous year the deficit stood at $24,000.

Sands said many districts are having problems keeping their lunch programs self-supporting, partly because of new regulations which require healthier offerings that don’t seem to be going over very well.

“If they put things on the menu that kids don’t want to eat, it’s only going to get worse,” School Committee member Steve Holbrook said.

In other business, School Committee Chairwoman Mary Martin announced there will be a few changes in the process of setting next year’s budget. The first is a somewhat later starting date of Feb. 26 when the Budget Committee meets, and the second is the meeting will be an all-day workshop.

Martin also said community representatives on the Budget Committee will be Bonnie Payette of Mechanic Falls, Bernice Fraser of Minot and Lionel Ferland Jr. of Poland.

She also told the committee that member Scott Tiner of Minot has decided not to run for re-election. Tiner will serve the remainder of his term, which expires June 30.

Reporting on steps taken to deal with overcrowding at Whittier Middle School in Poland, Brandt said officials have contracted for an enrollment projection study to determine whether current conditions are a blip or something the district will need to deal with long-term. She said chances are slim the state will have money for a construction project.

Copy the Story Link