An estimated 50 people attend the Regional School Unit 10 directors meeting Monday night at Mountain Valley High School in Rumford. Directors approved Mountain Valley Middle School seventh and eighth grade students in Mexico having classrooms at Mountain Valley High School in neighboring Rumford. The students switched to online learning Oct. 15 after the middle school closed Oct. 8 due to air quality tests showing high levels of mold. Marianne Hutchinson/Rumford Falls Times

RUMFORD —  Regional School Unit 10 directors Monday approved Mountain Valley Middle School seventh and eighth grade students in Mexico having classrooms at Mountain Valley High School in neighboring Rumford.

The students switched to online learning Oct. 15 after the middle school closed Oct. 8 due to air quality tests showing high levels of mold.

The seventh and eighth graders make up the smallest group of students in the school, which includes 366 students in grades five through eight.

Superintendent Deb Alden said the plan for classrooms includes using the high school’s transportation department’s office, storage spaces, rooms off the main hallway, gym, cafeteria and auditorium. Administrators hope to have the students in those rooms by Nov. 15.

The plan for fifth and sixth graders is to move them to the former Mexico Police Department building on Recreation Drive and the basement of the Apostolic Church at 9 Brown St., Alden said. If the Office of the State Fire Marshal approves the classrooms, the school district will hire Harriman architects and Landry French Construction to prepare the spaces, she said. Administrators believe the students could be in the two buildings by Nov. 28, which is Thanksgiving Day.

The middle school will be demolished after the Mountain Valley Community School, which is under construction on Highland Avenue, opens in late 2025 or early 2026 for prekindergarten through grade eight students.

Mountain Valley Middle School Principal Carrie Luce speaks Monday at the Regional School Unit 10 directors meeting at Mountain Valley High School in Rumford. The Mexico students switched to online learning Oct. 15 after the middle school closed Oct. 8 due to air quality tests showing high levels of mold. “In these very unusual times since our shift to remote learning, we’ve continued to prioritize our students’ experiences and education,” Luce said. Marianne Hutchinson/Rumford Falls Times

Middle school teacher Tammy Gallant spoke during the public comment period, sharing thoughts from students about where they will attend classes. Among their responses were wanting to be in classrooms with their friends and with other grades, having lockers so their things don’t get stolen, having a safe place to learn and a place that’s warm for the winter. Students also wondered where they would have their sports practices, Allied Arts and physical education classes, Gallant said.

Angela Theriault, a parent of a high school junior and a senior, also spoke during the public comment period of her concern about the possibility of a split schedule at the high school to accommodate the middle school classes and the readiness of the two school buildings considered for classrooms.

“I feel as though this is being very rushed and that these two buildings are more than likely not ready to fit our students and staff needs as a school building by your date of being back to in-person learning by Nov. 12.

“We need to have a permanent solution in a plan that does not disrupt hundreds of other students whose academics would severely be jeopardized,” Theriault said. “High school academic years are very crucial. My senior follows strict AP College Board schedules and standards that would be even more difficult to learn in a shorter amount of time. Changing these student school days is detrimental to this success,” she said.

Director Allison Long said she and the board should always keep in mind what’s best for the students. “Right now, we are really focusing on making a plan for the middle school kids to be” back to in-person learning.

Michael Chase, the high school’s student representative on the board, said he was concerned about high school students having to attend classes in the evenings “because that prevents many people from completing the sports that bring them to this school and also from the jobs that allow them to support their families,” he said.

During their Oct. 21 meeting, directors decided not to pursue, at this time, split or double school sessions for middle and high school students.