MEXICO — Regional School Unit 10 Superintendent Deb Alden has directed the general contractor for construction at Mountain Valley Community School to add a dividing wall to the athletic prep area, creating two separate spaces.

The move comes after some public officials complained Dec. 17 that the single-use, fully enclosed athletic prep area lacked adequate privacy for the children.

“I don’t know the timeline for getting it in there, but we will block off that area until it’s done,” Alden said.

There will be an informational meeting about the updates to the athletic prep area Tuesday, Dec. 30, from 6-7 p.m., in the Mountain Valley High School cafeteria, 799 Hancock St., Rumford. Alden will have a video of all the spaces at the new school and share all the information she has gathered during this process. The public will also be able to ask questions.

“The most important thing is the safety, the security of our children and the physical and mental well-being of our children and the outcome of this is that we want a permanent wall in that locker room,” said Rep. Rachel Henderson, R-Rumford, at the Dec. 17 meeting.

In a Dec. 14 statement on its Facebook page, RSU 10 said that off the full-size gymnasium is an “Athletic Prep Area,” not a co-ed locker room as it has been called. In this area there are two offices for physical education teachers or coaches to use, and 22 floor-to-ceiling doors that any person can go in for privacy — all can be used for changing rooms. Some have toilets and two have showers, all for single use.

Alden said she made the decision to add the dividing wall after presenting “information that I had to the BGT (Buildings, Grounds and Transportation) committee. I knew it was designed so that you could have a wall or not. There was no nobody on that committee that didn’t want it.”

She also wanted to make it clear that in a large project such as the $92 million school, change orders are very common. These included changes to various rooms in the building such as size or the direction it faced, or change in items that were more expensive than expected.

Landry/French Construction of Scarborough is the general contractor for the project.

The 60 Highland Ave. school will house an estimated 1,000 students. It will replace Rumford Elementary, Meroby Elementary and the Mountain Valley Middle School. Grades 6-8 begin attending classes at the new school Jan. 20, with pre-K to grade 5 starting Jan. 26.

The next regular school board meeting will be Monday, Jan. 12, in the Mountain Valley High School cafeteria.