RSU 78 welcomes new student representatives on board

RANGELEY – RSU Board of Education No. 78 met Tuesday, Oct. 8, at Rangeley Lakes Regional School. Board President Dr. Mary Richards welcomed two new student representatives, AuDrey Sutherland (Class of 2027) and Natalie Alves (Class of 2027), as well as returning student representative Nichole Lemay (Class of 2025). Dr. Richards also announced that Karen Seaman will take over as vice-chair. Richards also praised Jeff LaRochelle and his team for all their hard work in getting the building ready for the October 2 Open House.

The meeting began with a presentation by George Bernstein and Leeanna Wilbur about the Beth Brunswick Children’s Memorial Fund. The presentation concerned the new child development center, which began operating this fall. The current plan is for the facility to be completed and ready for licensure by July 2025. The center will provide community members with licensed child care at little or no cost, assist with school readiness, provide employment opportunities and expanded care options, including hours PreK work for working families.

High school math teacher Rowenna Hathaway informed the board about the school trip to the Common Ground Fair in September. She also provided an update on the Quiz Bowl tournament that took place last weekend. High school science teacher Darlene Woodman updated the board on the progress of the greenhouse project.

Superintendent Georgia Campbell reported that she is participating in the Northern Franklin County Regional Education Collaborative and will continue to report back after their meetings. Additionally, Campbell, business manager Roxanne Tanner and board member Deborah Ladd attended Drummond and Woodsum’s annual regulatory update meeting.

Ladd and Campbell also attended the first Foster Center for Career and Technical Education Advisory Board meeting at the Mt Blue campus in Farmington. Finally, Campbell said the Open House was successful and had a greater participation of middle and high school families than in previous years.

Principal Seth Laliberte said the middle school students had their annual team-building trip. This year it was at Tanglewood in Lincolnville. This year the weather was much better than last year. Laliberte also congratulated the high school team and students. They could have offered privileges to seniors earlier and every senior met the requirements.

Overall, they see greater engagement in the classroom and on the sports fields. Finally, Laliberte announced that the first all-staff workshop will be held on Friday, October 11, and that staff will be participating in the Run Hide Fight training at MSAD 58. All Northern Franklin County Schools are participating in this training.

Student representatives provided updates on Spanish classes and cooking opportunities, fundraising for a spring trip to Costa Rica, Senior Night on October 18, homecoming on October 26, further Quiz Bowl updates, and college and scholarship updates.

The committee reports included updates from the Policy Committee, which meant one new policy to be adopted; Finance Committee, the audit results are expected in November, the new bus has arrived and cash flow is as expected; of Facilities, new kitchen equipment has been installed and there will be a new salad bar, paving will be coordinated with the new child development center and is estimated to take place in the spring of 2025, in the next few years the roof will need repairs and estimates will be analyzed and finally they are considering future bus replacements.

There was one meeting: Noah Greenlaw joins RLRS as the new CIO. Greenlaw is new to education but has extensive experience in IT.

Actions included a unanimous vote to accept the pellet bid from Maine Wood Pellets and a unanimous vote to adopt the DJ-R Policy: Administrative Procedure Federal Procurement Manual for Maine School Districts Federal Procurement Manual. The discussion on scholarships was moved to the November meeting.

The next meeting of the RSU 78 Board of Education will be on Tuesday, November 12, at 5:30 p.m., at Rangeley Lakes Regional School, in the multi-purpose room.