By Sarah Berthiaume
Special to the Pioneer Times
HODGDON — SAD 70 board members voted almost unanimously Monday night not to pursue another round of accreditation for Hodgdon High School.
The high school is currently under a one-year extension of its accreditation through the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, a distinction last renewed in 2005. Accreditation means an outside team of experts judge the school on various standards — everything from its curriculum and facilities to
community support. Preparing extensive reports and gathering supporting evidence for those reports requires large doses of time — not to mention the cost.
Superintendent Bob McDaniel said the process would cost roughly $26,000.
“High school accreditation is a lot of work for staff and it’s very expensive,” he explained at the Jan. 14 meeting. “And we’re just wondering if it’s worth it. … I think we could use the money in other areas and it would be an overload on our staff at this point.”
Several board members worried what the implications would be for students, and others said being accredited shows the school in a more positive light.
“It would be nice to have it,” said board member William Fitzpatrick. “But we just don’t have the staff and we just don’t have the money.”
In the end, the board voted 9-1 against pursuing another round of the evaluation process.
Board members did OK the purchase of LanSchool, a computer program that essentially governs student computer usage in the classroom. With LanSchool, teachers can black out computer screens during lecture time or monitor students’ testing progress in real time. According to information presented by Systems Coordinator Mike Varney and Technology Coordinator Dana Morrison, the program gives teachers at-a-glance access to what students are doing on their computers, helps simplify the grading process, and tailors Internet usage exclusively to learning.
“It gives teachers control of their own classrooms,” explained Varney. “And it’s very easy to use.”
While students might not be as impressed by the technology, board members were enthusiastic about its potential.
“I like the idea that we’re not fighting technology,” said Board Member Maureen Friel of Cary. “We’re really trying to work with it.”
The purchase, OK’d unanimously, will cost $5,400 — a price that covers three years of usage and includes both Mill Pond School and the high school.
The following items were also discussed at Monday’s meeting.
• The district decided to move ahead with plans to replace its entire phone system after a major malfunction this week left the superintendent’s office and the high school without phone service. The current system was installed around 1999.
“This could be a dangerous situation,” said Board Member David Stevens of Ludlow. “To me, this is something we need to take care of yesterday.”
A new phone system is estimated to be just under $700 a month.
• The district is facing a budget curtailment of $19,356 in state funding. McDaniel said SAD 70’s loss of state funding wasn’t as large as some districts, but that the financial hit would still have an impact.
As a result, McDaniel has enacted spending freeze, pending state action on these budget issues.
• A public hearing on the district’s withdrawal from AOS 48 is scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 22 at 7 p.m. at Hodgdon High School.
The next regular meeting of the SAD 70 school board is scheduled for Monday, Feb. 11 at 7 p.m.
