Community Resource Officer coming to SAD 29

By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
    HOULTON — Houlton Police Officer Steve Nason may soon be walking the halls of Houlton High School a bit more frequently.
    The SAD 29 school board gave its unanimous support to proceed with a concept suggested by the Houlton Police Department that would allow a community resource officer (CRO) with the department to spend time in not just Houlton High School, but Houlton Southside and Elementary schools as well.
    The creation of a CRO position was made possible by the town’s acceptance of grant funds from the U.S. Department of Justice in 2010 to fund another police officer position for three years.
    Officer Steve Nason was named Houlton’s CRO in January. Nason has been with the department for six years and has been the DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) officer for the past four years. As the DARE officer, Nason has already spent time working with students at Houlton Southside School.
    “We want to be more proactive,” Nason explained. “One of the areas we want to be more proactive is with students and seniors. By wanting to come to the school, we (Houlton Police) don’t feel that there is a huge problem at the high school.”
    Nason said often times, the first time a student is associated with a police officer is after something negative has happened with either themselves or their parents.
    “A lot of the students that are having a hard time, we see it from a different aspect,” Nason said. “If you saw where they were coming from (their home lives), you’d be surprised they even showed up for school. We can offer you a different view on things. We want the students to see us as regular people too.”   
Curriculum coordinator
    In other business, the board, by unanimous vote, gave Superintendent Mike Hammer authorization to advertise for a new curriculum coordinator. The curriculum coordinator position was one of several posts eliminated last year during budget deliberations.
    Since arriving with the district this summer, Hammer has served as both superintendent and curriculum coordinator. Hammer said he collected data from teachers from all of the schools in the district and there was overwhelming concerns with teachers that curriculum matters needed greater attention to detail.
    Some of the feedback from the teachers indicated Hammer was spread too thin trying to juggle his duties as superintendent and curriculum coordinator and closer supervision and support was needed for Title I staff.
    Priorities for a curriculum coordinator would involve guiding the development, implementation and review of the curriculum; working with school administrators to provide instructional models that enhance teaching and improve student learning; coordinating the system-wide assessment program including collection, analysis and dissemination of data; promoting efforts which build communication, teamwork and continuity between the different school staffs and work teams; coordinating various curriculum committees; and creating a curriculum review plan.
    Hammer said it was his recommendation that the district consider hiring one full-time person rather than two part-time positions to fill this need.
    How the position would be funded was not discussed by the board.
Preliminary budget talks
    Fred Grant, a member of the finance committee, updated the board on the preliminary general-purpose aid figures the district has received. The state released its preliminary figures on Thursday and while the total amount the district will receive from the state is up slightly, the required local share to receive those state funds may take a big jump.
    The preliminary figures as released by the state Department of Education show that the required local share for SAD 29 could be $2,949,884, which is an increase of $391,675 over last year’s required local share. The state’s share would be $8,536127.
    The school board is meeting with town leaders from Houlton, Littleton, Monticello and Hammond Tuesday evening to discuss the budget process and how the state arrives at its figures.
    “We are only at the beginning stages, but we wanted to have an open dialogue with the towns, so we can all plan accordingly,” Grant said.
    In other agenda items, the board hired Renda Jo Elmore as a grade 7-8 math teacher and Joe Schneider as transportation director.
    The next regular meeting of the SAD 29 school board is slated for Monday, March 5, at 6 p.m.