FARMINGTON — Regional School Unit 9 directors voted July 7 to enter into an agreement for a grant from the Office of the Maine Attorney General to start a plumbing program at Foster Career and Technical Education Center at Mt. Blue Campus.
Oxford Hills Technical School in Norway and Lewiston Regional Technical Center in Lewiston are also allowed to enter the agreement. All three schools do not have plumbing programs.
Maine Attorney General Janet Mills reached a settlement by consent judgment in March with National Bath Systems LLC, doing business as Bath Fitter of Portland, concerning accusations of violations of the Maine Unfair Trade Practices Act, including unlicensed plumbing activities, violations of the Internal Plumbing Code and violations of the Maine Home Construction Contracts Act. The settlement prohibits certain activities and requires a penalty of up to $750,000 with some of that suspended for the duration of the probationary period, according to a news release on the AG’s website.
Mills desires that the Bath Fitter settlement funds be used for consumer protection and education, including training in compliance with Maine plumbing laws, rules and codes, according to the agreement with the schools. Mills also believes that Maine consumers benefit from knowledgeable plumbers and that such knowledge begins with the education of students seeking to sit for a Maine plumbing examination, the agreement states.
Glenn Kapiloff, director of the Foster center, told RSU 9 directors July 7 that the school has been working for several years to establish a plumbing program.
There was a combined program previously in Jay and Livermore Falls but it is no longer in existence, he said.
The attorney general agrees to provide each school $60,000 per school year, for two school years, subject to conditions. Conditions include the programs be approved by the respective state and local educational authorities. Programs must be established according to state standards and must use Maine licensed master plumbers as instructors, and must be populated with plumbing students, according to terms set forth in the agreement.
All programs will be designed to prepare the students to sit for the Maine journeyman’s examination. The schools will also be required to make all reasonable efforts to seek reimbursement from the state and local authorities to continue the programs after the grant funds from the attorney general are terminated.
The second annual payments are subject to Bath Fitter’s continued compliance with the consent judgment with regard to the completion of the settlement payment.
During the first year for the Farmington school, $30,000 is for a half-time instructor and $30,000 for facilities and equipment, Kapiloff said. During the second year, beginning in September 2016, $60,000 would be for a full-time instructor and would include heating, ventilation and air conditioning instruction.
The program would be set up in the unoccupied business incubator space at the Mt. Blue Campus. The other piece is that adult education would use the space for licensed plumber and HVAC training, he said.
The program still has to be approved by the Maine Department of Education.
It is not a guarantee that the second year would be funded, Kapiloff said. If it is not funded, the district would still have the equipment, he said. The program is a 350-hour standalone program.
An estimated eight students are expected to attend the first year and 18 students the second year.
RSU 9 Director Iris Silverstein of Farmington opposed the vote to enter the agreement.
The proposal for Oxford Hills Technical School in School Administrative District 17 is a full-time program to begin in 2016-17 and to continue through the 2017-18 semesters. The approximate cost for each year is $60,000 with 16 students expected to attend the first year and 28 the second year.
The proposal for the Lewiston Regional Technical Center is a full-time program to begin in September 2016 and continue through the 2017-18 semesters. The approximate cost for each year is $60,000. An estimated 16 students are expected to attend in 2016-17 and 32 students for the 2017-18 school year.
The next school board meeting for the Oxford Hills school board is Aug. 13. It was unknown when the board governing the Lewiston technical center would meet on the matter.
dperry@sunmediagroup.net
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