FARMINGTON — Mark Prentiss of Industry was re-elected chairperson of the RSU 9 Board of Directors during Tuesday’s meeting.
It is Prentiss’ fourth year leading the board, he said.
Directors also elected Claire Andrews of Farmington as vice chairperson. She has served in the position in the past.
The board also elected Eric Gilbert of Farmington, Bob Flick of Farmington and Bill Reid of New Sharon to the board’s Finance Committee.
Election for the Budget Subcommittee will be held at the July 23 meeting. There are two openings on the four-member committee.
Directors Jennifer Zweig Hebert of Starks and Helen Wilkey of Vienna will serve a second year on the panel.
The Budget Subcommittee was put in place five years ago, Andrews said. It gives four board members insight into the development of the budget from the start, she said. When the board goes to the public with the budget, then those four members will know exactly what the budget includes and why, she said.
Board members serve two years on the committee.
It is a very important committee and allows those on it to see every need in the district, Prentiss said.
It makes for a nice conduit between the board and the administration and gives continuity in the process, he said.
Prior to election of officers the board welcomed new Superintendent Tom Ward of Temple to the district.
They also welcomed new directors James Black of Wilton, Eric Gilbert and Yvette Robinson of Farmington, Ross Clair of Chesterville. Black replaces Robert Pullo, Gilbert and Robinson replace Monique Claverie and Ray Glass, and Clair replaces Wanda Soule. None of the former directors ran for re-election.
Ward also told the board that he would like to make changes at the Central Office. He wants the special education office to move into the office and make a conference room into two offices for that program. It is important that the special education director be nearby to keep him informed of what is going on, he said.
The staff is also looking at ways to make the Central Office more professional-looking and more welcoming to the public.
He estimated the changes, including building walls and other needs, would cost about $1,000.
The board had no problem with the changes.
Director Dr. Iris Silverstein of Farmington said she wanted to put into the mix a place to hold board meetings that would be more amenable for the public coming to meetings. Currently, the meetings are held in a conference room in the Mt. Blue Middle School, with not a whole lot of room for the public.
Meetings where there is expected to be a larger attendance are moved to the cafeteria.
“My preference is to have the meetings in the cafeteria,” Ward said. “It is too hard to predict how many people will attend.”
Another option is the Forum at the Mt. Blue Campus, he said. The high school and career and technical center are located there.
“We might want to have the the August meetings at the Forum,” he said.
Clair suggested that selectmen in Chesterville would like the board to come to that town and hold a meeting there. Maybe if the board goes back to holding meetings in each of the 10 towns, they might get more parental input, he said.
The district stretches from Weld to Vienna and from New Vineyard to Starks.
Ward said he planned to meet with each “select board of the towns to talk about school funding.”
dperry@sunjournal.com
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