DIXFIELD — Regional School Unit 56 no longer requires that masks be worn in its schools to prevent the spread of COVID-19, Superintendent Pam Doyen told directors at their meeting Tuesday at Dirigo High School.
She posted a letter to families Friday, saying the district would “transition to masks optional starting Saturday, March 5, because the rate of transmission in Oxford County has been listed as medium by the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Also, masks will not be required for all modes of school transportation.
Masking has been required since the beginning of the school year.
In other business, directors approved the purchase of a new freezer for the nutrition department for an estimated $60,000. Nutrition Director Gena Cloutier said parts are not available for a freezer at the T.W. Kelly Dirigo Middle School in Dixfield.
“We can no longer get parts for it and with the warmer weather, the freezer door was icing right up,” she said. “We actually have to hammer ice off the door every day to get the door completely shut.”
Doyen said there is $210,000 set aside in the nutrition department budget to pay for a freezer.
Regarding the 2022-23 budget, the board heard presentations from Cloutier, Special Education Director Heidi Connelly, Building, Grounds and Transportation Director Kenny Robbins, Technology Director Brian Keene and Business Manager Mary Dailey.
A meeting to discuss and approve the budget is set for May 24 and a validation vote is set for June 14 at polling stations in Canton, Carthage, Dixfield and Peru.
Directors also approved a Project Graduation trip for seniors to Six Flags New England in Agawam, Massachusetts, on June 10. Class President Abby Thibodeau and Vice President Delaney Woods presented the request.
Charlie Swan, principal of Dirigo Elementary School in Dixfield, received permission for fifth-graders to attend the University of Maine 4-H Camp and Learning Center at Bryant Pond from May 30 to June 2. The students will participate in team-building activities, survival training, challenge courses with “high ropes and zip line,” and other activities.
Swan said it is a “a celebration of the end of elementary school for some kiddos, and they’re ready to move on to the next seven years.”
In another matter, Chairwoman Barbara Chow of Dixfield read part of Carthage Director Brad Dyer’s letter of resignation, whose three-year term is up June 30, 2023.
“We are hamstrung by bureaucracy, social justice BS, and spending far too much time collecting data,” Dyer wrote.
The board includes: Chow, Angela Varnum, Vice Chairman Bruce Ross, Larry Whittington and Tim Kelly, all of Dixfield; Natalie Sneller and Carl Lueders, both of Canton; Donald Whittemore of Carthage; and Konstantin Aslanidi and Angela Cushman, both of Peru.
Dyer’s seat is now open, as well as one in Peru that’s been vacant since August 2021.
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