DIXFIELD — The RSU 10 board Tuesday night discussed its 10-year school facilities plan, which includes possibly building a new elementary school and having a centralized bus garage.
No action was taken, but the plan will likely come up for approval within the next few weeks.
The plan assures that each of the three regions in the district — Rumford, Dixfield and Buckfield — will maintain a high school. Depending on student population in each region, those three schools could include grades nine to 12, eight to 12, seven to 12 or six to 12.
RSU 10 includes Mountain Valley High School in Rumford, Dirigo High School in Dixfield, and Buckfield Junior-Senior High School. Member towns are Canton, Carthage, Dixfield, Peru, Buckfield, Hartford, Sumner, Byron, Mexico, Roxbury, Rumford and Hanover.
Also in the plan is the assurance that elementary students will not be moved from one town to another, particularly those attending Canton Elementary School, as was suggested a few months ago.
Superintendent Tom Ward said if a child lives closer to a school in a different region than the school he or she currently attends, parents may request that the child be moved to that school.
The plan also proposes that the district will submit an application for a new state-funded elementary school for prekindergarten to grade five students in the Rumford-Mexico region. It would eventually replace Rumford and Meroby elementary schools. Ward said an alternative would be to make major renovations at Meroby in Mexico.
Either way, he said the application should be submitted in 2014 in order for the new school to be built in approximately 10 years.
Another major proposal included a new site or building to house all buses in the district.
Ward said one way to receive state funding for the project would be to join with Vocational Region 9 and build the facility on its property in Mexico. The new bus garage could also allow Region 9 to offer a vocational program in diesel mechanics.
Currently, buses are housed in each of the three regions.
Other long-term proposals include switching to natural gas if it becomes available to the area. Ward estimated a savings of between $200,000 and $300,000 if the change was made.
Also proposed was the replacement of the gym floor at Dirigo High School at an estimated cost of $220,000, borrowing from the state’s revolving loan fund to repair the roof and replacing the cafeteria floor at Mountain Valley High School.
Ward said the state will not accept revolving loan applications until 2015.
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