By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
HOULTON — The RSU 29 school board named a new chairman Monday evening, following the resignation of longtime chair Elizabeth Anderson.
Fred Grant was unanimously chosen to lead the board. He has served as vice chairman for the past few years. Anderson had served as chairman of the school board for about nine years. She has one year left on her three-year term and plans to stay on the board for the remainder of that term.
“Liz has done a fantastic job,” Grant said. “It really is a difficult task and she did it so well. We offer a huge thanks to her.”
In her resignation e-mail, dated Nov. 21, Anderson stated she has “thoroughly enjoyed the position, as well as working with the board and superintendent through the many different phases of board work that exist with this role.”
Anderson, who was unable to attend Monday’s meeting, was then unanimously elected vice chairman.
The board also revisited its discussion of the job description for the district’s special services director. Last month, the topic drew considerable discussion from members, but Monday night’s meeting generated only minimal conversation.
RSU 29 Superintendent Mike Hammer stated he felt the job description, as it was presented to the board last month, was the direction he felt the district should go with handling what are referred to as “Section 504” cases.
A Section 504 case involves providing extra assistance to a student with needs who does not qualify for such help under the Special Education program. That assistance could be in the form of health conditions, Attention Deficit Disorder/Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, or social issues, which prevent the student from functioning in the classroom. The student might also have other learning issues, but not fall in the special education category.
According to Hammer, 504 students are “students that are not Special Ed, but may need some form of accommodation in their educational plan that helps them be successful.” Individual meetings with the student’s parents or guardians are also required and can be time consuming, Hammer added.
The new job description changes the district’s special services director (previously known as the special education director) to only have “oversight and development of 504 plans” while continuing to let other administrators handle the caseload.
Hammer said the number of cases, and therefore the number of meetings, has risen sharply in recent years. What once was a matter of a dozen students is now a caseload of about 64 students, generating upwards of 100 hours spent in meetings per year. That increased workload, Hammer said, was too much to expect the special services director to be responsible for.
Stipends for those administrators who will pick up the extra workload may be forthcoming. Hammer suggested a figure of $75 per case for initial meetings and $50 per meeting for any follow-up sessions. Two years ago, the district awarded a total of $5,000 in stipends to administrators who performed these tasks.
The measure passed 9-1, with board member Jeremiah Crockett opposed.
In other agenda items, the board gathered in executive session for about 45 minutes to discuss its evaluation of the superintendent. Hammer’s contract with the district expires at the end of the current school year.
The next regular meeting of the RSU 29 school board is Monday, Jan. 6 at 6 p.m. in the high school library.
