BETHEL — On Monday, Sept. 25, the school board met at Telstar Library. Three new positions were voted by the board. Erin Cooley is the chair; Stephanie Herbeck is the vice chair and Marcy Winslow is the vice chair pro temp.
During “Citizen Comments,” Colleen Raymond of Bethel made two points. First, she asked for, “a more transparent hiring process for coaches. The current system is neither consistent nor transparent,” said Raymond. She said she was passed over for a coaching job despite her extensive experience and safety credentials, which she listed. A [school] board member told her the procedure is “interviews when there is more than one applicant,” yet she was not interviewed and the nephew of a teacher was hired. He later quit.
Raymond believes there should be a written coach hiring policy and the board should discuss it at an upcoming meeting.
Her second issue is that there is no high school cross-country team this fall. “There is nothing in the Maine Principle’s Association rule book that prohibits a small team from participating in what would be referred to as exhibition races. Cross-country is not part of the Heal Point system, like soccer and football.
“There would be no sanction placed on the district if the team did not complete the season … The only thing jeopardizing the future of the team is not having one,” said Raymond, who said she has all the necessary credentials and offered to coach the two students.
“What are we telling the two students that wanted to run and represent Telstar? You aren’t worth it? You aren’t good enough? Your physical, social, and mental well-being is inferior to that of soccer and field hockey players? You can’t bring up the budget, the money is there. At some point very soon, someone needs to take responsibility and apologize publicly to those students,” said Raymond.
Superintendent Kenney wrote to Raymond on Mon. night, Oct. 1 with an update. He said that he asked, “Ms. [Gail] Wight [athletic coordinator] to draft up a written procedure for the process so that it is stated in writing what the coach hiring process is. How it happens, timelines, expectations, communications, etc. Once that procedure is completed, I will most certainly share with you and also the board for their informational purposes going forward. It is not something that the board needs to formally adopt or approve.”
Region 9
Brenda Gammon, Region 9 School of Applied Technology director, said they have the highest enrollment in her 17 years with around 209 students. Thirty students are from SAD-44 and they are spread across 11 different programs.
Gammon said they have received $5.5M in grant funding for building projects and three are underway. The first two are the culinary outside greenhouse and kitchen market combination. For their third project they are looking to buy waterfront property to teach water safety, boating and fishing as a mini 4-H program.
She complimented the Telstar administration. “Any Telstar student that comes to Region 9, they have made quite a commitment … The staff has met with these students they have set them on a career path. Very rarely do we get a Telstar student that chooses not to continue in a program,” she said.
Superintendent
Superintendent Mark Kenney said football bleachers were replaced with new decking. Mulching, weeding and tree trimming took place on all three campuses. Crescent Park and Woodstock exteriors were power washed. All the playgrounds received fresh coats of paint. “I think we brought in 230 yards of chips to re-chip all the playgrounds. New sand in the sandboxes.” He stressed that going forward they will have maintenance on a rotation. “So it doesn’t fall by the wayside,” said Kenney.
Preparedness professional Scott Parker said they had their first lockdown drill at each of the four schools. “We are training at every level,” said Parker. He said they have tested all of the equipment. “Overall we are doing well.” He said the PA system is a challenge, but they have worked around it. Additionally, they identified blind spots in their camera system.
“These drills are required by state law and they are taken very seriously,” said Kenney.
Woodstock School Principal Beth Clarke’s fifth graders are going to Bryant Pond 4-H camp and learning center Oct. 10-13, with one overnight to focus on leadership and team building. Without the support of the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife it would cost over $3,000 said Clark.
The Woodstock PTA is contributing $280. “Our third graders are there today for water ecology. Our kindergarteners are going tomorrow for sensory and nature and our fourth graders are going in October. It is just the beginning of a relationship with this incredible resource which is literally almost in our backyard,” said Clarke.
Committees
After some discussion the Board passed the first reading of Policy BDE Board Standing Committees. The policy establishes a fifth committee. The new committees are: Education; Finance/Negotiations; Facilities/Personnel; Policy; and Executive.
Previously policy was lumped with facilities and personnel and there wasn’t time to update policies, said a board member.
“Policy has been dwarfed by facilities,” Kenney said, therefore they are behind in their reviews. He hopes after the second reading passes, they can begin to update policy manuals.
The Board approved replacing the failing Telstar PA system for an amount up to $48,500. They will accept three different bids. One is a wireless option that could offer the fastest installation. A back up generator at each school insures that power will not disrupt a wireless PA system for more than 30 seconds. It is unclear if the existing PA’s can even be repaired. The money comes out of the $150,000 emergency budget.
“It is more than a communication issue. It is a safety issue,” said Kenney of the failing PA’s.
The board approved Minuteman Securities for additional ceiling mounted vape detectors and interior security cameras at the Telstar complex. “We’re finding areas that are not covered by the cameras. A couple of dead spots,” said Kenney. They would be adding to their existing system. Kenney said this allows the administrators to get a handle on the problem. They will use last year’s contingency money to pay for the upgrade.
The MSAD-44 2023-2024 meeting schedule dates are (weather permitting): November 6; December 18; February 12; March 11; April 8; April 22; May 12; May 29 (public hearing) and June 17. All meetings are held in the Telstar Library and begin at 6:30 p.m.
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