RUMFORD — Regional School Unit 10 Superintendent Deb Alden said that the district is planning a ground-breaking ceremony for the new $92 million Mountain Valley Community School building in Mexico.

During Monday’s board of directors meeting at Mountain Valley High School in Rumford, Alden said that she and others involved in planning for the ceremony are considering Wednesday, Feb. 21, as the event date, since it falls during the week of school vacation.

“We’re looking at the week of February vacation (Feb. 19-23) only because we’re really worried about the parking up there, so we really need to not have school in session,” Alden said.

She added that they “want people to come,” and she thought that by having the event mid-week more people might be available to attend the ceremony.

In other business, Alden told the board of directors that some federal funding which became available in 2021 and stemmed from the coronavirus pandemic will end this summer.

Not having that funding means that of the six school nurses in the district, two nurses — whose positions were paid through government COVID-19 funding— will no longer be covered.

Alden also explained that the state’s funding for schools through its Essential Programs and Services program funds one school nurse for every 800 pupils.

“So, we qualify in this district for (funding for) 2.19 nurses. … That means that the state paid for 55% of our four nurses and the other 45% is in our budget (to pay them).

“If we went to funding (for) ourselves six nurses, that would mean the EPS funding formula would fund 37% of what we have for school nurses,” Alden said.

Following Alden’s explanation on how the district’s nurses are funded, Carrie Luce, Mountain Valley Middle School Principal, Jodi Ellis, principal of Meroby Elementary School, and Tom Danylik, principal of Mountain Valley High School, each spoke about the important role and need for nurses in their schools.

The principals of Buckfield Junior-Senior High School and Hartford-Sumner Elementary School will speak at the next school board meeting Feb. 12 at 6:30 p.m. at the high school to discuss their thoughts on the need for nurses in their schools, Alden said.

In another matter, Alden noted that the board of directors has four open directors’ positions — one each from the towns of Rumford, Sumner, Roxbury and Hanover. The openings in Roxbury and Hanover have not been filled for over a year, Alden said Tuesday in an email to The Rumford Falls Times. Other towns of the district are Buckfield, Hartford and Mexico.

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