LIVERMORE FALLS — The RSU 73 board on Thursday set two dates for next week to conduct interviews with the two finalists for superintendent.
The board will meet at 6 p.m. on Monday, April 28, and Thursday, May 1, in open sessions, then immediately enter into closed sessions to conduct the interviews.
The Superintendent Search Committee, comprised of teachers, administrators and others within the district, received eight applications from candidates around the state, and has narrowed the field to two. Visits to each of the candidates’ current worksites were made two weeks ago.
The opening for the new leadership position is the result of current Superintendent Dr. Robert Wall’s plans for retirement at the end of the school year.
The board will hold a regular meeting on May 8, at which time a new superintendent may be announced. If all works out, a new superintendent is expected to begin his duties on July 1.
Wall has served as the leader of RSU 73 since its inception in 2011, when the former Jay School Department and the former RSU 36, Livermore and Livermore Falls, merged. Prior to that, he was the superintendent of the former Jay School Department for several years.
In other matters on Thursday, the board learned that plans for the use of the former Livermore Falls High School by the Spruce Mountain Summer Recreation Program will likely go as planned.
The six-week program has been available to area children for 25 years.
However, because the building is no longer a public school and other organizations use a portion of the facility on a regular basis, a fee and some restrictions for use by the recreation program will likely need to be worked out.
Eileen Miazga, Spruce Mountain Adult Education director, oversees use of the building. She and the leaders of the recreation program are expected to work out a contract within the next two weeks.
Miazga is trying to make the building self-sustaining by renting the gymnasium, cafeteria, fields and other parts of the building to organizations.
The district’s food service program provides meals for the nearly 300 children who take part in the recreation program.
The board also unanimously voted to end the flexible spending account used by about 15 district employees following a presentation by business manager Stacie Field that indicated the district could be liable for some costs.
“If, at a later date, it is done in a different way, it may be reinstituted,” Wall said.
In another matter, Wall said he plans to present details of a possible change to standards-based education and grading for district students at the May 8 board meeting. This means grades may be changed from the traditional A, B, C, D and F, to whether or how well a child meets prescribed educational standards.
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