RANGELEY — The RSU 78 Board of Education met on Tuesday, March 11 at the Rangeley Lakes Regional School. The meeting was called to order at 5:30 p.m.

Board Chair Dr. Mary Richards opened the meeting by thanking the finance committee for all their hard work on the 2025/2026 budget being brought forward tonight.

Superintendent Georgia Campbell shared that RSU 78 placed first in the annual Winter Kids competition. The $5,000 first place check was awarded on Friday, Feb. 14 during a special assembly at the school. RSU 78 has participated in the program for the last six years and has won a grand total of $16,000 during that time. With the funds, the school has purchased a shed to store playground equipment and purchased snowshoes for students to use during gym. Campbell extended her thanks to PE/Health teacher Lindsay Richards and all the volunteers and sponsors that help with this event. On Friday, Feb. 28, Campbell and board member Deborah Ladd attended the Foster Career and Technical Education Center’s monthly board meeting. It was shared that Foster Tech anticipates an 8 percent increase in enrollment for the 2025-26 school year due to interest and increased programming. Campbell is in the process of applying for a federal grant for summer programming needs. She will keep the board appraised of the status of the grant. Lastly, Campbell will be attending the national Innovation in Schools Conference Summit in Orlando, FL and will report back in April.

Student Representative Nichole Lemay (Class of 2025) shared that middle schoolers have visited some of the Foster CTE programs and that the high school Certified Nursing Assistant program students have begun their clinical rotations. The Student Council is investigating a student newspaper and has polled students and staff, PK-12. Seniors have received acceptances from Bates, Husson, UMO, University of South Carolina, and UNE among other schools and post-secondary programs.

Student Representative Audrey Sutherland (Class of 2027) shared that the Student Council is finalizing their scholarships for seniors and hope to award 2-3 this year, totaling $1000. The Garden Club has begun spring planning, and organizing the greenhouse is the current priority. The intramural volleyball team has been practicing for a tournament that was held on Saturday, March 15 at Buckfield. A Spring Reset Day is planned for middle and high school students. The day will include motivational speakers, movement breaks, healthy cooking demonstrations, gardening, a spa room and more. The day has been spearheaded by Lindsay Richards and Rowenna Hathaway with support from the high school student council.

Principal Seth Laliberte shared that Friday, March 14 would be a teacher workshop day and with a focus on school improvement and vertical (content) teaming. By the end of April, Laliberte hopes to have a perception survey for staff, parents and some students. Laliberte also shared that RLRS has completed the food service review and reported the school was in good shape. Food Service is working on offering alternate menu options for all grade spans and new menu options.

Committee reports included updates from Policy Committee, bringing one policy forward for revision and next meeting is Monday, March 31 at 3 p.m. at the school; Facilities Committee did not meet this month; Finance Committee shared that the proposed 2025-26 operating budget has been approved by the committee and was ready to be presented to the board. There is a 3.1 percent increase from the prior year, which is in line with projected federal cost of living increases. Both the committee and Campbell thanked the staff for keeping the budget lean and focusing on needs versus wants. Campbell also acknowledged that the responsible and thoughtful use of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds to pay for capital improvement projects in previous years helped keep costs down. Finance Committee chair Robert Greene extended sincere thanks to Roxanne Tanner and Jeff Larochelle for their support in preparing this budget. The budget hearing is scheduled for May 6 at the school.

There was one new appointment: Beth Hanna as Ed Tech III in Intervention/Title I for the 2025-26 school year. Hanna has been covering the sabbatical for Kelsey Orestis this school year and has been a special education Ed Tech in prior years.

Action items included the unanimous approval of the 2025-26 RSU 78 Budget of $5,899,935.67; a unanimous vote to raise $15,790 for the Adult Education budget; a unanimous vote to raise $20,000 for the School Nutrition Program; a unanimous vote for the budget format to be Open (Note: Open format allows for budget articles to be amended up or down at the budget hearing. Closed format only allows for budget articles to be amended down); a unanimous vote to authorize the transfer of funds to capital reserve funds; a unanimous vote to approve the updated Emergency Operations Plan; a unanimous vote to approve the 2025-26 Program of Studies; and, lastly, a unanimous vote to approve policy BBBH-Student Representative to the Board, which asks that there be one representative each from grades 10, 11 and 12.

The meeting adjourned at 6:33  p.m. The next RSU 78 Board of Education meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, April 8 at the Rangeley Lakes Regional School in the multipurpose room.

The RSU 78 Budget Hearing is scheduled for May 6 at the school. Meeting time will be announced at a later date.