The Board of Directors of RSU 14 met Wednesday, June 12 and discussed the district’s facilities, the recent budget vote and a reconfiguration of special-education staff.
Primary School Project
The district has received bids for the new bus loop and playground site work at Windham Primary School. Facilities director Bill Hansen said bids came in about 20 percent higher than expected. The district has been saving money toward the project, but it is still short of the amount that will be needed to complete the project, he said.
Hansen said he would present the bids for the board at its June 26 meeting, by which time the district hopes to have a permit in hand from the Department of Environmental Protection.
Special education reconfiguration
Outgoing special education supervisor Linda Powell said the district is moving toward fostering more student independence by shifting the way its special-education programs are staffed. Two education technician positions are being eliminated, as two students with one-to-one support are ageing out of the district. Instead of having four technicians, the district will hire two special-education teachers, Powell said. She said the cost to the district would not be substantially higher.
Consolidated middle school consideration
Board chairman Catriona Sangster reported that the facilities committee had raised the idea of a consolidated middle school as a topic for future consideration. She said the committee would look at using a new building or modifying an existing one. “Those are some of our older and less efficient buildings,” she said of the current middle schools.
Board comments on budget vote turnout
Voters in Windham and Raymond approved the district’s budget for the coming fiscal year and voted to continue a two-step process which gives voters a chance to change the budget in a meeting ahead of the referendum on the plan.
Primary School Project
The district has received bids for the new bus loop and playground site work at Windham Primary School. Facilities director Bill Hansen said bids came in about 20 percent higher than expected. The district has been saving money toward the project, but it is still short of the amount that will be needed to complete the project, he said.
Hansen said he would present the bids for the board at its June 26 meeting, by which time the district hopes to have a permit in hand from the Department of Environmental Protection.
Special education reconfiguration
Outgoing special education supervisor Linda Powell said the district is moving toward fostering more student independence by shifting the way its special-education programs are staffed. Two education technician positions are being eliminated, as two students with one-to-one support are ageing out of the district. Instead of having four technicians, the district will hire two special-education teachers, Powell said. She said the cost to the district would not be substantially higher.
Consolidated middle school consideration
Board chairman Catriona Sangster reported that the facilities committee had raised the idea of a consolidated middle school as a topic for future consideration. She said the committee would look at using a new building or modifying an existing one. “Those are some of our older and less efficient buildings,” she said of the current middle schools.
Board comments on budget vote turnout
Voters in Windham and Raymond approved the district’s budget for the coming fiscal year and voted to continue a two-step process which gives voters a chance to change the budget in a meeting ahead of the referendum on the plan.
Board members said turnout was scant. Sangster said this year’s meeting, in which $12,600 was added back to the budget, is an example of a case in which a few people were able to make measurable changes.
Board member Kate Brix said many people told her they were unaware of the vote, and she suggested the board investigate ways to increase public knowledge of the referendum for the next vote.
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