NEW SWEDEN, Maine — The Joint Committee of School Union 122 met on Dec. 4, 2014 for their regular monthly meeting at the New Sweden School.
According to Union 122 Superintendent Karla Michaud, meetings have now been scheduled with building administrators to discuss and identify budgetary needs in each of the buildings associated with Union 122 schools. The meetings will discuss not only budgetary decisions that will need to be made, but also staffing needs and classroom configuration for the 2015-16 school year.
During the Union 122 meeting, board members also voted to elect officers for the Union’s Joint Committee to serve until Dec. 31, 2015. Positions that were up for election were board chair, vice chair and secretary. The current board members holding these positions were all re-elected to serve for the next year. Those members included Pat Anderson as board chair, Wanda Anderson as vice chair, and Debbie Eustis-Grandy as secretary.
Michaud also announced that WAGM-TV and Union 122 have recently decided to partner in a program called “Kidstory: The History of our Towns.” WAGM will film a two-to three-minute segment that will highlight students to showcase the history and culture of each town in the union. This partnership will begin Dec. 12 with the filming of New Sweden’s annual St. Lucia Festival.
Next on the agenda was the acceptance of the resignation of Woodland Special Education teacher Bethany McBreairty, who has decided to resign due to personal reasons. Her resignation was accepted by the board and will be in effect as of Dec. 31. The position has been advertised in the Aroostook Republican and applications are still being accepted.
Michaud reported that iObservation, which is an instructional and leadership improvement system, is underway in both schools with a draft plan in the making. The new iObservation system collects, manages and reports longitudinal data from classroom walkthroughs, teacher evaluations and teacher observations. Teacher growth and leadership practices inform professional development differentiated to individual learning needs for every teacher and leader to increase his/her classroom effectiveness each year. The plan for the use of the new system will be brought to the board in the spring for approval prior to being sent to the state Department of Education.
Also mentioned in the superintendent’s report was the news that numerous Union 122 staff members have recently attended various NMEC workshops..
The next meeting of the Joint Committee for Union 122 will be held on Thursday, Feb. 5 at 6:30 p.m. in Westmanland at the home of board chair Pat Anderson.
