CARIBOU, Maine — Directors for Regional School Union 39 discussed lunch prices, the swim program, and the Gear Up grant, among other topics during last week’s meeting at the Caribou Learning Center.
Food Service Director Louise Dean suggested lunch prices for the 2015-16 school year.
“I went before the board last Summer and asked for $10,345 so we wouldn’t have to raise prices for the last school year,” said Dean. “It was out of the budgeted money, so it wasn’t anything extra added to the budget. This year I’m asking for $2,237.55. It’s not nearly as much, and again, it is from funds that are already budgeted. I just need it upfront instead of at the end of the year.”
The board made a motion to accept Dean’s proposal and all were in favor of granting her request.
In other business during the Sept. 16 school board meeting, Caribou High School Athletic Administrator David Wakana proposed consolidating the Caribou, MSSM and Presque Isle swim teams.
“Swimming started at Caribou High School in 1997,” said Wakana. “Our teams have ranged from seven to 20 people. There have been a few years where had even less than seven, so we didn’t even participate in swimming. Last year, I believe we had 10 swimmers from Caribou High School and LCS/MSSM had 13 kids swimming. They swam as two separate teams at the same event.
“We would like to form a team with Caribou, MSSM and Presque Isle. The rationale for this is that we think it’ll provide a greater opportunity for students to compete. If we join with these schools, the swimmers will be able to form relay teams. It will enhance our team’s competitiveness as well, and provide enhanced coaching.
“These three schools combined have about 1,100 students, and we’ll be able to go from a Class B to a Class A swim school. It is also required that we form a new name, and we’re proposing Carlisle, as the name combines Caribou, Limestone, and Presque Isle. We are going to need your approval before going any further,” Wakana explained.
“Both my kids did swim team,” said Board Member Kent Forbes, “and one of the things I like about the swim team is that they take all the kids. Everyone encourages everyone, regardless of how good or bad they are at swimming. I’ve seen the swim program on the chopping block during other meetings and I think this is a good way to save it.
“We live on a planet that’s two-thirds water; the kids should be able to learn how to swim,” Forbes added.
The motion to approve this plan was seconded and carried by the board.
Mark Jones then updated the board with regards to the district’s Gear Up grant.
“The real heart and meat of the Gear Up program is increasing the students’ academic performance in preparation for post-secondary education. We want our kids to be able to get living wage jobs, and one of the focuses of this grant is to get them through high school and make them aware of what college has to offer.
“Caribou High School has had great success with the dual enrollment classes. The concern is that there are some students who can’t even afford the $45 to sign up. I don’t think there’s any better way to encourage kids to go to college than to get their foot in the door with these classes while they’re in High School,” he said.
“Someone has contacted me in reference helping fund some of those students who are unable to afford signing up for these classes or buy books, so hopefully this program is able to help out in that respect. I know trying to get my kids to try to take college classes as high school students, I’ve had to do a lot of legwork on my own. I think the communication is going to get a little better as this all works out,” Jones added.
Superintendent Timothy Doak introduced Ben Ezzy, a Caribou High School student, to present a video he created about RSU 39.
“I was asked by Mr. Jones to do a video of Caribou High School,” said Ezzy, “and that video turned into something that represented the overall vision of RSU 39, and so I went around the different schools and took clips of different students in action.”
The production was shown via projector and was met with a large applause by all attending the meeting.
“We think this video is high-caliber enough to put on the school website, it’s very well done. I think we’ll be putting it out on the website as well as facebook, and of course give you credit at the end. To me, this is the type of student we need to develop for the future; someone who is innovative, problem solving, and utilizes technology in the correct way to show off his own talents as well as the school’s,” said Doak.
