LIVERMORE FALLS — The chairwoman of the Regional School Unit 73 board Thursday night described a letter to the editor advising Livermore and Livermore Falls to consider leaving the district as “self-serving” and “inaccurate.”

The letter from Dana Cummings of Atascadero, California, was published in the Sun Journal on Jan. 11.

The Livermore Falls native, who owns two former Livermore Falls school buildings, claimed in the letter that “as Jay’s value continues to drop like a rock, Livermore and Livermore Falls will have to pick up the slack to keep the RSU going.”

“He happens to own both those buildings,” RSU 73 Chairwoman Denise Rodzen of Livermore Falls said. “It’s a self-serving letter to the editor.”

She said as far as taxes go, if the valuation in Jay decreases, they would start receiving more money.

“Not only is it a self-serving one, it’s an inaccurate one,” Rodzen said of the letter.

The board also heard from Facilities and Transportation Director Ken Vining about recent problems from frigid temperatures.

On Jan. 2, the district canceled classes because many of the buses parked outside wouldn’t run after a weekend of brutally cold weather.

“Remarkably, it’s kind of strange, our newer buses were some of the ones that froze,” Vining said.

He said that on Friday, Dec. 29, the maintenance staff made sure all the buses had a full tank of fuel, put in fuel additive to keep it from gelling, and ran the buses for some time. The problem with the newer buses is they can’t idle too long because of the air pollution control equipment on them, Vining said.

In other business, Rodzen said the Maine Department of Education is looking at requiring schools to provide special education services for children ages 3-5 who have disabilities and developmental delays.

The Maine Department of Education is planning to submit a bill to the Legislature that would eventually stop Child Development Services from providing speech and occupational therapy, and psychological services to young children with disabilities.

RSU 73 provides these services for children ages 4 and older, Rodzen said.

Director Shannon McDaniel asked how the funding would work, and Rodzen said the Department of Education didn’t know yet.

“I don’t think there’s enough staff for all this,” Director Tammy Frost said.

Auditor Jeff Hubert of MacPage presented a report on RSU 73’s finances. He said that overall, the district is in good shape, with revenues ahead of budget by $213,000 and expenses under budget by $693,000 for this budget year.

Spruce Mountain High School student Orion Schwab, who sits on the school board, asked about maximum allowed carryover from budget to budget.

Hubert said state law limits carryover so school systems won’t accumulate excess funds, which would be assessed as local taxes.

In other business, the board:

• Approved including the business manager under RSU 73’s Maine Public Employees Retirement System Participating Local District;

• Accepted the resignation of Director Laurie Sanborn of Livermore Falls with regret. Sanborn resigned because of work commitments; and

• Set Jan. 25 at 6 p.m. for it next meeting at the Superintendent’s Office in Livermore Falls.

bmatulaitis@sunmediagroup.net

 

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