ANDOVER — Officials for the new, town-run school gave about 25 town officials and residents an overview of their work so far during a meeting Wednesday night in the gymnasium.
Townspeople voted last year to leave School Administrative District 44 and start their own school.
The most important thing, startup administrator Jack Turcotte said, was that the board subcontracted all of the school’s financial matters, such as payroll and accounts receivable, to SAD 51 in Cumberland.
“That’s big; that’s huge,” Turcotte said. “So they will take care of all of the tasks related to dollars and cents.”
However, the board doesn’t have any numbers for its initial school budget. School Board member Paula Lee said they anticipate having that by mid- to late June and will put it before voters referendum-style like SAD 44 does.
Turcotte said the school would start this fall following SAD 44’s schedule. He estimated the student population in grades kindergarten through five at 27 initially.
They did look into having a pre-school but decided that may be too much to handle in the first year. “So that’s on the horizon as a possibility,” he said.
Lee explained the school board structure and its connection with the town. Turcotte addressed staffing and curriculum and told the audience that they could use some technology help from an information technology-trained person.
Board members Pete Coolidge and Tim Akers outlined transportation and facilities matters, such as the school’s antique steam boiler system and food service.
Turcotte then opened it up to questions, which dealt with concerns about how to access school policies that have yet to be approved, where the board is at with the process to hire a superintendent and how teachers would be sought, among other things.
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