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RANGELEY — Following last month’s review of the Maine school board system’s history, powers and duties, this article will review the methods used to carry out these responsibilities.
The board consists of three permanent standing committees — Finance, Policy, and Facilities.
For the time being, facilities has been incorporated into the Building Committee. Additionally, some committees are formed to meet temporary but more immediate needs; e.g., the Building Committee.
A recent, but now disbanded, committee is Ad Hoc Leadership. These committees provide the crucial inner workings of the board. Along with committee members, Superintendent Bill Richards and school board Chairwoman Nancy Hilliard attend every meeting.
The Finance Committee is made up of Chairman Rick Walker and three board members — Paul Reynolds, Jen Farmer and Martha Vanderwolk. All committees meet once a month, and it should be noted these meetings are always open to the public.
A major part of the Finance Committee’s job is to work with the superintendent on the yearly school budget. The budget process will be the topic of a future article. Since this committee’s responsibilities lay in the realm of finance, they review the school’s monthly financial report as well as approve and sign payroll and any other financial reports. All expenses must be approved by the board; hence, they have the added responsibility of recommending the need for new expenses, or cutting expenditures when appropriate. A newly acquired and major responsibility of this committee is to oversee expenditures on new construction.
The policy manual for RLRS contains 253 policies in eight categories. Policies are meant to aid an institution in managing their affairs with “prudence and wisdom.” The job of the Policy Committee is to review the manual yearly, and revise and occasionally rescind policies depending on their usefulness. Dr. Colleen Koob serves as chairwoman of this committee; members are Amber Haley, Joanne Chapman and Kathy Catrini.
This past year the committee has been charged with streamlining the present manual and has been able to condense the manual from a cumbersome 400 or so policies to the present 253 policies, finding many were redundant. When a policy is reviewed, there are three things that can happen. It can be determined it is still relevant and effective, in which case, the date of that review is noted. It can be rescinded, with the board’s approval, if it is determined it is no longer viable; or it can be revised, again with the board’s approval. A new policy must be brought before the board to be voted on twice at two separate meetings. It becomes policy only after the second time the board has voted its approval.
The Ad Hoc Leadership Committee is an example of a committee assembled to address an immediate need, explore a question, investigate a problem or meet any other temporary issue. This particular committee was formed to address the question of what could leadership or an organizational function do to improve student academic performance at RLRS.
As a result, the superintendent has come up with an organizational plan to address this issue. A future letter from the superintendent will explain this in more detail. The Superintendent Search Committee has been formed recently. Dr. Richards will be leaving at the end of the current school year, and RLRS principal Charles Brown left this past summer, so a search must begin to fill these voids.
The Building Committee was formed several years ago to address many issues. Foremost among them were space, safety and ADA (American Disabilities Act) compliance. Space was an issue because some classes were being conducted in a portable classroom and because education principles and practices have changed.
The need for small testing spaces and smaller classrooms for addressing individual student needs was paramount. No longer is the classroom with 20 or more children all being taught the same thing at the same rate realistic. Safety was also an issue; there was a need, because of the problems in our modern world, to see who was coming and going at the school.
ADA compliance, while incorporating both space and safety issues, also has many specific requirements such as accessibility to places like second floors and bathrooms. While planning the changes to the RLRS facility, it became apparent the school did not meet 21st century science and technology standards. Rather than ignore this need, which would only have to be addressed eventually, the board decided to incorporate new, up-to-date science and technology labs at this time. A decision was made to address these problems head-on by updating the present facility and adding a new addition. A public referendum was held and the decision was approved by the voters in October 2015. Ginny Nuttall serves as chairwoman of the Building Committee Members are Clare Webber, Tony Clark, Gene Warfel, Monica Liedl, Darlene Woodman, Sheila Raymond and Smokey Raymond. As with all committees, the superintendent and board chair are always in attendance.
Since last month, further work on the inside of the building has been postponed so that enclosing the new addition can be done by November. At this writing, the steel struts for the roof are about to be erected. Progress appears to be on schedule.
