MECHANIC FALLS — The Town Council received a report Tuesday night from two town representatives on Regional School Unit 16’s Task Force Futures Committee studying the future of the district’s elementary schools.
RSU 16 Chairwoman Mary Martin gave a brief rundown of the 23-member panel charged with making recommendations to the school directors. She said the task force has met 10 times since June to study issues such as building operations, staffing, transportation, budget and education quality.
Two options will be offered to the school directors Monday 6:30 at Poland Regional High School:
• Fund, staff and fix the three elementary schools in Mechanic Falls, Minot and Poland.
• Close Minot Consolidated School and fund, staff and fix Elm Street School in Mechanic Falls and Poland Community School and reconfigure the grades.
The school directors will decide which course of action to take.
Martin said the final decision should be in place by December so plans and costs can be prepared for the next budget year.
Task Force member Terri Arsenault of Mechanic Falls told councilors, “Frankly, it’s going to be a lot of money … it’s going to come down to the dollars.”
Voters in May rejected a $5.1 million bond to upgrade heating and ventilation systems at all three schools.
A plan to modernize the schools’ heating and ventilation systems was developed after a cast-iron plate in the boiler at Minot Consolidated School cracked in late September 2022. It was feared that a similar calamity could occur to the aging systems in Elm Street School in Mechanic Falls and Poland Community School.
In other business, the council awarded a liquor license to Daddy O’s diner, which is opening a second restaurant on Route 26 near the intersection with Route 11.
Town Manager Vic Hodgkins informed councilors that the town received a dividend check for $2,461 from the Maine Municipal Association “because of its good performance and loss prevention programs” from the state’s three municipal workers compensation funds.
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