Harvest break discussed once again by SAD 29 school board

Driver Education teacher resigns
By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
    HOULTON — The numbers are in for how many students actually participated in harvest-related work for SAD 29, and the figure surprised many school board members during Monday night’s board meeting.
    Superintendent Mike Hammer reported that only 19 of the roughly 553 students enrolled in grades 7-12 at Houlton Junior-Senior High School participated in harvest-related work during  harvest break.
    SAD 29 currently closes for one week for the harvest break, but offers an optional week for high school students, provided they are working a harvest-related job. SAD 70 also closes for harvest. Those are the only districts in southern Aroostook that still break for harvest recess.
    Hammer also reported that results from a survey sent home with all students in grades 7-12 have been tabulated. Of the roughly 553 students in those grades, only 119 returned the survey (22 percent).
    The survey posed two questions to students.
    The first question asked, “Would your student participate in the harvest if it were to return to the full three weeks of break?” Seventy-five (63 percent) answered “No,” while 44 said “Yes.”
    The second question asked, “Do you believe that the school system should continue to honor the break by closing school for harvest break?” Sixty-four (54 percent) answered “Yes,” while 55 said “No.”
    “About 54 percent would still like to do the one week,” Hammer said. “I do believe there is a way to continue to acknowledge harvest for those students that want to go out. There is a lot of different aspects of how it looks for each individual student.”
    Hammer suggested a third week could be considered for those working, provided the student’s academics did not suffer. That decision should be left up to the school board, he said. Hammer also suggested having the school board create a focus group to meet with area farmers.
    Back in February, the school board heard testimonies from local farmers imploring them to not only keep the harvest break in the school schedule, but expand upon it. Many farmers suggested that a three-week break, as was the case many years ago, would allow them to employ more students to harvest potatoes.
    Farmers speculated that the decline in participation was because some farmers stated they were reluctant to hire student workers if they only had one week of vacation. Last fall, due to a high unemployment rate in the area, farmers were able to use adults seeking employment to get their crops out.
    “I have a concern,” said board chairman Liz Anderson. “With those students who are struggling, is it a responsible position for us to have them out of school, if we do away with harvest?”
    Hammer said he thought the optional week off actually served as a motivator for students to get their grades up before the break, because if they did not, they were not allowed to have the extra time off.
Driver Education now defunct
    The board also learned that Wayne Quint, the driver education instructor for the school district, verbally resigned from his position. The move leaves SAD 29 without driver education as an offered course. Quint taught students how to drive for 46 years in the district.
    According to Hammer, participation in the school’s driver education program has slowly declined, due to it being offered privately by two different businesses in town. The driver education vehicle is currently being leased from Yorks of Houlton at a cost of about $16 per day, Hammer said. He suggested the district could use the car in a similar fashion as the school van that was purchased last year. That vehicle is routinely used for official school business instead of paying mileage for a person to use their private vehicle.
    Hammer added there were no students currently enrolled in the driver education class, therefore none would be impacted by the resignation.
    In other agenda items, the board:
    • Approved a 2 percent raise for its administrators. The possibility exists of an extra 1 percent to be added, bringing the total raise to 3 percent, based on performance and goals. The extra 1 percent was not voted on at the meeting, however.
    • Approved musical stipends of $3,000 for the “Artistic Director,” $2,042 for the “Assistant Director” and $1,097 for the “Associate Director.”
    The next regular meeting of the SAD 29 school board will be Monday, Jan. 9, at 6:30 p.m. in the Houlton High School cafeteria. The board will gather at 5 p.m. for training in the Superintendent’s conference room.