Contributed photo/Nate BodenstabHOULTON — The guest speaker selected by Rotarian Fred Grant at the Houlton Rotary’s luncheon meeting on Aug. 29 was RSU 29 Superintendent Ellen Schneider, who is also a member of Rotary.
RSU 29 is made up of students from the towns of Houlton, Hammond, Littleton and Monticello. The website for RSU 29 has a handout that advertises the school’s philosophy, which is “Preparing Learners for a Changing World.”
Schneider shared some general information about the school. As of April, which was the official enrollment month for statistical numbers, the total enrollment was 1,326, but by the end of June there were 424 in PreK through second grade; 298 in grades 3-5; and 359 in grades 9-12 for a total of 1,355. The school’s population is increasing.
The school’s website provides links for parents and students to check on the school calendar, school policies, school board agendas, and minutes of meetings. The address is http://www.rsu29.org/. There are also Facebook and Twitter accounts for the school.
Essential services programming, also called ESP, must follow state guidelines. RSU 29 has kept its budget under the ESP guidelines for several years. Of every $4 spent by RSU 29, $3 is devoted to instruction, where the norm by other schools is an average of $2 for every $3 spent, according to Schneider.
She also advised that there are some new people employed by RSU 29. The director of technology is from Washington State. The new high school science teacher is from California. There is an new adult education director, a new elementary art position and a new administrative assistant to the superintendent.
The work that was accomplished over the summer included phase one of the Southside School playground renovation; radios were installed in all school buses; access to the middle school and high school is more secure with locks and video cameras at the entrances; a new sidewalk was installed at the high school; a new floor cleaning process at all schools was initiated; and over the summer more than 300 students were fed every day during summer break.
With the community eligibility program all students in the elementary school and the Southside School quality for free breakfasts and lunches. An area Schneider is hoping to address concerns attendance. There has been chronic absenteeism for some students. Her program is titled “Attend Today, Achieve Tomorrow.”
September is Attendance Awareness Month and this will be posted on the RSU 29 Facebook page. Nationally over six million students missed 15 days or more in 2013 through 2014. Good attendance can predict graduation rates better than test scores, Schneider said. The school plans to send home flyers with students about this, hang banners in all of the schools about this effort and have radio announcements on this subject.
The challenge is to have less than five days of absences per student per year, according to Schneider. Meetings with parents and students will take place to promote this goal. There will be posters titled “Challenge 5.” Keeping students in school can greatly help their learning and lifelong responsibility, she said.
