RSU 78 Board Update

The RSU 78 Board of Education met on Tuesday, October 10 at 5:30PM at the Rangeley Lakes Regional School.

The meeting opened with two presentations: the first from High School English teacher Pete St. John who presented updates to the high school English curriculum. The second presentation was from High School Math teacher Rowenna Hathaway who shared a slideshow from the high school’s trip to the 2023 Common Ground Fair and the student work generated from the experience.

Board Chair Mary Richards reminded the board that the MSMA conference is October 26th and 27th and encourages board members to attend. Dr Richards also shared thank you cards from middle school students about the recent science room expansion, and shared an article about legal and procedural aspects of public comments at board meetings. She encouraged the board to read it.

Superintendent Georgia Campbell reminded the board that Open House was the 18th from 5-6pm. She also reported out on a number of meetings and trainings she had attended over the past few months including WMSA, the Women’s Superintendent’s Institute, annual legislation meetings, a training on student discipline from Drummond & Woodsum, a local superintendent’s meeting at Mt Blue, and attended a regular board meeting at MSAD 53 to observe how other districts run their meetings.

Principal Seth Laliberte shared updates from the middle school field trip to Camp Kieve, the high school greenhouse project, and the staff in-service day.

Student Representative Nichole Lemay (class of 2025) shared that students are actively fundraising for the trip to Washington, DC and the results of the student council elections. Student council is currently planning a homecoming dance at the Furbish House. She also shared student feedback about the Common Ground Fair field trip and shared that it was overwhelmingly positive.

Committee reports included updates from Policy Committee – three action items for tonight, finished the 2020 review and are getting a jump on 2021; Finance Committee – reviewed the monthly financials as well as heating and fuels bills and bids for board vote, audit is almost complete and should be ready for board review shortly; Facilities Committee – further discussion on oil tank replacement and reviewed heat and fuel bids as well as trying to solve the issue of walkway lighting; Negotiations – process has begun and the committee has received an initial proposal from the staff negotiations committee.

There were three appointments: Kayla Haines (kitchen staff), Ivalyce Stevens (special education), and Olivia Gerand (special education).

Policies EEAA-A – Overnight or Out of State Trip Contract and EEB – Special Use of District Transportation Vehicles were approved pending suggested revisions, and policy EEAA-R – Request for Overnight or Out-of-State Travel was tabled pending further edits.

Bids for wood and fuel were unanimously approved.

RLRS senior Erin White has been accepted to an extremely competitive international music production at Carnegie Hall in New York, NY. After some discussion the overnight/out of state trip was unanimously approved.

Middle school student participation in the annual MYAN conference in November was also unanimously approved. This will be RSU78’s third year attending this conference. RLRS’s participation is entirely student-driven.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:08PM. The next RSU 78 Board of Education meeting will be on Tuesday, November 14, 2023 at 5:30pm in the multi-purpose room at the Rangeley Lakes Regional School.