By Barbara Scott
Staff Writer
The Eastern Aroostook RSU School Board of Education met Nov. 2 a regular meeting at the superintendent’s office in Caribou.
During the meeting board members adopted a Tobacco Use and Possession Administrative Procedure policy. This policy was in place previously, but given the individual procedure policies within the three school units, when the RSU was established, a policy committee was formed in order to review each district’s policies and changes were adapted to ensure that each of the three RSU participants were operating under the same disciplines.
Changes were made to the original tobacco use and possession policy in that:
• Students who violate Maine State Smoking Laws (e.g. possession of cigarettes under the age of 18) will be referred to the police for ‘every’ violation (the previous policy language did not include every);
• First Violation, (sect. 4) The student will not be allowed to participate in any extracurricular activity for a period of ‘20’ days (previously 30 days) and athletes will miss at least two countable contests; • Second Violation, (sect. 4) “The student will not be allowed to participate in any extracurricular activity for a period of ‘40’ days (formerly 60 days);
• Third Violation (sect. 4) The student will not be allowed to participate in any extracurricular activity for a period of 60 days. The suspension will not preclude the student from trying out for next season’s activity. If the student participates in athletics and the infraction occurs between seasons, the suspension starts at the beginning of the athlete’s next sports season. The following language was removed from this paragraph: “when applicable, the student must attend athletic practices but cannot compete in any events during the suspension.”
The RSU board members also adopted a Visitors to the Schools policy which contains a section of new language in part D which reads “School or classroom visits that limit the ability of the school or teacher to effectively educate students may be prohibited at the discretion of the building administrator.”
In continuation of policy structure, Frank McElwain, RSU 39 superintendent, presented to the board (for a second read) a new policy pertaining to Student Publications; and the existing policy of Drug and Alcohol Use by Students. Any changes in these policies will be considered for approval at the next scheduled meeting.
After consideration and discussion, the boarded voted to have Superintendent McElwain negotiate the sale (at fair market value) of a 60-foot by 60-foot portion of land, located on the north side of FFA Avenue in Limestone, owned by RSU 39 and referenced as Lot 1 on the Limestone Property Maps. The land, a buffer between two properties, is no longer needed for school use and was offered to be given back to the town of Limestone at a recent Limestone Selectpeople’s meeting. It was the consensus of the selectpeople that the parcel of land was of no use to the town, therefore remained in the hands of the RSU 39. McElwain, under the direction of the board vote, will negotiate the sale with an adjacent property owner who has shown interest in the small parcel of land.
David Wakana, Caribou High School vice principal and athletic director, reviewed with the board the 2010-11 Drop Out Prevention Committee Report.
“Caribou goes way above and beyond to keep kids in school,” said Wakana, “but we still have kids check out.”
“There are any number of school-related as well as non- school-related issues that effect the dropout problem, including poor attendance, poor academic history, social issues and in some cases parents enabling their child to leave school,” Wakana added.
“Last year we had 10 dropouts at CHS, three of these students came to us from other high schools; three others became parents; and four dropped out due to other issues.” Although 10 dropout students seems high Wakana said it was an improvement from the 18 in the previous school year.
Helping students be successful, to stay in school and achieve their goals is the focus of the Dropout Prevention Committee and the district maintains a wide array of preventative activities/programs and interventions Wakana said. There are more than 70 programs available district-wide, (some dealing with specific school levels such as preK-2; grades 3-4; middle school and high school) to students/parents within the school district.
Wakana stated that the committee recently focused on the issue of today’s philosophy that all students will, must or should continue on to college, has created the loss of some applied classes, and the “blue collar students” get lost academically. “These kids, who struggle academically more than others, give up — they find their school work too difficult, they get behind, convince themselves that their grades are so low they will not graduate and in the end drop out. If we can get them to their junior year, chances are good they will graduate. We need to get them through freshman year — some repeat that year two or three times — that is when we lose them.”
Wakana presented to the RSU board members two major recommendations from the Drop Out Prevention Committee, which included:
• Investigating a way of getting freshmen who fail English first semester to be able to have a two-period English the second semester so that they can get both semester 1 and 2 credit. This will help ensure that they stay with their class and not behind. One possible solution is to have the freshman seminar teacher teach the seminar semester 1 and then teach semester 1 English to those who did not earn credit in semester 2. Those students would have both semester 1 and 2 English the second semester (in a two-period class).
• Investigate available classes for students who may need mid-level classes. Right now both ends of the spectrum are offered from very challenging or very basic but little in the middle. “We recommend looking to have a broader range of classes for those academically challenged,” said Wakana.
Also present at the Nov. 2 meeting were Rob Kieffer, president of the Caribou Athletic Boosters and Tim Doak, Booster Club member and design engineer. The pair informed the RSU 39 members of a proposed project that is tentatively set to begin this spring regarding the construction of an addition to the existing CHS Ski Building, allowing for the Booster Club to serve the traditional popcorn, hotdogs and other snacks from that site instead of the current storage shed building.
Kieffer stated that over the past few years the Caribou Athletic Boosters have funded numerous projects that do not fit within the normal school budget. These projects have helped upgrade our (existing) facilities, benefited teams, helped individual athletes and recognized outstanding achievements,” he siad.
Since 2003 over $44,000 has been donated by the Athletic Booster’s Club to benefit student athletes. This money has primarily been raised through the efforts of volunteers working the concession stand at athletic contests.
In 2009, the Caribou Athletic Boosters, on the afternoon of Caribou Sesquicentennial Parade, served food to hoards of citizens and visitors following the parade as the community gathered for the final events of the yearlong celebration. “We raised somewhere in the neighborhood of $6,000 that day selling hotdogs and potato salad,” said Kieffer, “and that money became the seed money for this project which is estimated to be a physical cost of $40,000, provided we have volunteer labor and in-kind services.” Kieffer said that the Boosters will potentially have $20,000 set aside for the project, and that the Caribou Rotary Club, as one of their major community projects, has committed $15,000 toward the project.
Doak, who has provided his services free of charge, informed the board of code problems within the ski building, including issues with the existing restroom facilities, among others.
Following the Athletic Booster Club presentation a motion was made by Cliff Rhome and seconded by Michelle Albert to support the proposed project as long as it does not financially bind the RSU 39 District. The motion was approved.
The Caribou Athletic Booster Club is a separate entity from the RSU 39 District.
McElwain reminded board members of the open house to be held Caribou High School and Tech Center on Wednesday, Nov. 16 from 9 to 11 a.m., during which guests will first meet in the Tech Center conference room where representatives from Train and NMDC will provide an overview of the wood-chip boiler projects in both Caribou and Limestone schools. Following the information session, a tour will be provided through the CHS building regarding the boiler operations.
