PARIS — The SAD 17 board of directors Monday welcomed new members and said goodbye to some longtime members.

Superintendent Rick Colpitts swore into office longtime board member and Chairman Ron Kugell of Oxford, veteran Director Don Ware of Norway, incumbents Stacia Cordwell of Oxford and Bob Jewell of Paris, plus newcomers Mike Marshall of Norway and Robert Celeste of Harrison.

It was announced that 11-year board member Tom Moore of Otisfield passed away on June 12 and Joe Vaillancourt of Otisfield is retiring from the board after serving for 24 years.

Olive Sanborn of Oxford, a 12-year member, decided not to seek re-election and veteran Director Curtis Cole of Paris, who had one year left in his term, has moved to Norway and is leaving his position.

Eight-year Director Ann Macro of Harrison was defeated in her write-in campaign for another three-year term by newcomer Robert Celeste, who will take the seat on July 1.

“I very much appreciate all your service,” Colpitts told the board members whose service will be celebrated at a future meeting.

The board approved a number of fiscal 2016-17 appointments recommended by the superintendent, including new teachers at Oxford Elementary School: Stephanie Winslow, sixth-grade teacher; Megan Popp, kindergarten teacher; Jade Maguire, first-grade teacher; and Mara Balboni, first-grade teacher.

Also appointed were Kallie Brown as first-grade teacher at Guy E. Rowe Elementary School in Norway and Wendi Benedict as fourth-grade teacher at Hebron Station School.

Carrie Colley was approved as the new SAD 17 district accountant.

The board also agreed to create a position of special education teacher in the  Applied Academics program at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School and to create two positions of Reading Recovery teacher leader.

To fill the two Reading Recovery teacher leader positions, the board approved the superintendent’s nomination of Lynn Curran Sargent as Reading Recovery teacher leader. She is a trained Reading Recovery teacher leader who has been providing professional development for the district’s Reading Recovery teachers since 2007. The board also approved the superintendent’s nomination of Amanda Hammond as the second Reading Recovery teacher leader.  She has 11 years of experience as a kindergarten and first-grade teacher.

In other action, the board:

• Voted to table approval of the Performance Evaluation Professional Growth plan that affects teachers and principals until the Personnel Committee can have further time to study it; and

• Adopted a resolution to authorize issuance of a $1.2 million bond for renovations and improvements to SAD 17 schools and approved the computation and declaration of the district’s $39.21 million fiscal 2017 budget vote. Both actions were approved by voters during the recent school budget hearing and subsequent referendum questions.

Rowe Elementary School students Delia McDonald and Austin Fox made a presentation to the directors about the school’s new food pantry, which provides 12 to 15 students a week with food to take home.

ldixon@sunmediagroup.net