STRONG – In addition to a discussion on future planning, the MSAD 58 accepted a number of new hires and transfers during the monthly board meeting on Thursday, September 21.
New hires included Heidi Richards, Art Teacher, DMRMS; Adam Masterman, Art Teacher, MTA; Jami Badershall, half-time Library Tech, DMRMS; Ashley Robinson, School Nurse, MTA; James Logan half-time Study Hall Monitor, MTA; and Alli Merrill, Special Education Teacher, DMRMS. Transferring staff were Jodi Badershall, Middle School PE Teacher, DMRMS; Tracey McKenzie, Grade 1 Teacher, KES; Annette Stanley, Special Education Teacher, KES; and Erica Bracy, Social Studies, DMRMS.
Two resignations were reviewed, from Lance Harvell, Social Studies, DMRMS, and Nancy Guay, Special Education, PES. Superintendent Laura Columbia had already accepted the letters of resignation from these staff members.
The board also appointed Dr. Lisa Torgerson as the district physician. Columbia said that Torgerson was following a similar model as the district’s former physician, Dr. David Dixon, and filling the physician role for a number of the districts in the region.
A new student representative to the school board was introduced Thursday night. Eric St. Pierre, Jr., is a Junior at Mt. Abram High School and a junior firefighter on the Strong Fire Department. St. Pierre joins Izabella Dereszynski, a Senior at MTA, as student representatives to the board.
Columbia reported that the recent bus accident in Kingfield highlighted that the district’s emergency response systems are functioning well. The first priority was to ensure student and staff safety and work with local first responders to handle the immediate incident, then to contact the parents and families of the students on the bus, and finally to inform the wider school community. Columbia said that everything went as smoothly as possible during the incident.
James Danala presented requests for two field trips. The Costa Rica trip for April of 2024 is a ten day trip for juniors and seniors in the science and Spanish classes. Students are responsible for the costs of travel and this year, parents are willing to handle transport to and from the airport. In the future, Danala would like to see the bus costs factored into the school budget for this field trip. The trip would be chaperoned by Danala and Brandy Pierce, science teachers at MTA.
Danala and Pierce requested that the district pay for subs for their classrooms for the duration of the field trip, and for permission to take the trip. This generated some discussion about how substitute teachers are accounted for in the budget; substitutes for field trips are included in the general substitute budget line and there was a request to factor the substitutes into the field trip line in the future. Ultimately, the board approved the Costa Rica trip.
Danala also requested to take the Outdoor Club on a trip to Flagstaff Lake and the Bigelows at the end of October. This would be a weekend trip with three adult chaperones. Students are responsible for travel and a $5 fee to cover the costs of camp stove fuel and snacks. There is no cost to the district, but the club needed approval for the liability factor. The board approved this trip as well.
Sue Pratt of Strong has been named the board’s representative to the Maine School Board Association. She presented the board with a number of proposed changes to the MSBA resolutions and asked for the board’s feedback on each change so she could represent the board in the MSBA meeting.
The board voiced a general consensus to accept most of the proposed changes. A request to remove the school board remote participation resolution was opposed by the MSAD 58 board, with members saying it seemed prudent to keep that on the books in the event of another state of emergency that would require remote meetings. A proposed change to a school choice resolution was met with concerns around a lack of information regarding the change, such as possible impacts to current policies around transfers for athletic opportunities versus academic opportunities.
New resolutions that were proposed included targeted state funding for mental and behavioral health. These funds would come from existing sources but be allocated in a different manner to address targeted goals. While board members agreed that the mental and behavioral health of students is a concern, there were questions about the responsibility for addressing those concerns and whether that responsibility is on the school district, on the families and community, or some combination. Pratt said she agreed with a targeted effort but not targeted funds as that would restrict the district’s ability to use resources. The board was split on the topic and Pratt said she would attempt to represent both sides.
The Maine School Board Association adopts resolutions based on the feedback from school board representatives and uses those resolutions to advocate for policies and legislation at the state level.
The board went into executive session on labor negotiations shortly before 9 p.m.
