SAD 1 receives grant to make library improvements
PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — SAD 1 has been awarded a $10,000 grant from the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation. According to Clint Deschene, assistant superintendent for business, funds will allow the district to “implement an update to our libraries.”
“The grant will be utilized to purchase new cataloging software that will link all five schools in the district,” Deschene told directors at the April 8 board meeting. “We will also be purchasing a new computer for each of the elementary school libraries. This is the first time the software will be integrated with elementary schools allowing more sharing and access to our resources.”
Each school, Deschene said, will be implementing a process to compile, inventory, and enter book information into the system.
“The goal is to have all purchases completed by June 30, and all data entered by January 2016,” he said.
Deschene also shared with the school board that last-minute adjustments are being made to the proposed 2016 budget that will be presented to directors at an April 29 budget workshop.
“The key items we’re still focusing on are maintenance projects within all our buildings; we want to review that list and make sure that we’ve got everything covered we need to for the next year,” he said. “Health insurance didn’t have a big increase for us this year, and with retirements and other things, we didn’t have to have much for increases in the overall operating budget.
“As we’re sitting right now on the municipal tax year, we’re looking at an overall increase to them that’s under 2 percent. Right now the city of Presque Isle will be less than 1 percent, if almost zero,” said Deschene. “The good news is that it’s a very stable year. I’m projecting that our fund balance should shrink a little bit from what it was last year. All the individual budgets for each school are in and they’re set, stagnant and meeting what we need.”
Also at the April board meeting, directors:
• Heard from Melissa Vance, who provided the board with an update from the curriculum committee. She said one issue of concern involves the state enforcing the 350 hours of programming that goes back “to the traditional three-block period — seniors in the morning and juniors in the afternoon.”
“It eliminates your one or two period electives because the kids have to take three-period blocks. This is creating a problem in our high school, as well as in all the sending schools because there are academic requirements and there are classes that are scheduled for certain periods,” she said. “If a student is going to be involved in periods 1, 2 and 3, and his English class is offered in one of those three periods, he can’t take the three-period block of whatever particular Career and Technical Education (CTE) program he wants.
“It’s the same with your juniors … a typical high school junior who is on track takes one English, one science, one math and one social studies. That’s four out of seven periods. If the classes are arranged in such a way that he can get into those classes, he can take his block, but he has a full day with no study hall,” said Vance. “Due to busing and the other sending schools, we have to have programming periods 1-3 and 4-6. The guidance department is working with the CTE program to help get things arranged with some integration of courses, but that’s going to be difficult. It’s an issue and one that’s going to affect our CTE Center, but hopefully not drastically.”
• Were notified that a survey will be going home with students to gauge parent interest in the district establishing an early and extended day, as well as a summer, program.
“This is truly just to measure interest,” said Deschene. “We put together just a one-pager; we wanted to keep it very simple so that people would understand what we’re trying to do. It would be fee-based, so we need to see what the interest is. If this was to work, I think we could still hit a beginning-of-the-school year opening.”
Recognizing that the early/extended day program is in the “conceptual phase,” Superintendent Gehrig Johnson said should the idea move along, it would come back to the board for a full discussion and vote.
• Accepted the retirement notices from Mary Graham, eighth-grade English/social studies teacher at Presque Isle Middle School; Lori Kierstead, third-grade teacher at Zippel Elementary School; and Mary Guerrette, SAD 1’s special education director. They will all retire effective June 30.
The next regular board meeting will be held Wednesday, May 20 at 6 p.m. in the board conference room at Presque Isle High School. The district budget meeting will follow at 7 p.m. in the high school cafeteria.
