PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — Students at Pine Street, Zippel and Mapleton elementary schools will soon be walking the path of education with new shoes on their feet.
At the Feb. 11 SAD 1 board meeting, Chris Hallett, principal at Zippel, shared some exciting news with the board about a gift the students will be receiving.
“I was approached a couple of weeks ago by representatives from the City Reach Church in Presque Isle, many of whom are parents of some of our elementary students, and they’ve been in the process of applying for a grant through the Convoy of Hope, a national humanitarian project that reaches out to different communities,” he said. “They’re going to supply shoes to every student in our elementary schools for free. A national shoe company, which wants to remain anonymous, is providing the shoes, and it’s about a $25,000 gift to our students.
“In the next couple of weeks, they’ll be coming in to take shoe sizes from the kids,” said Hallett, “and 3-6 weeks after that, all of our elementary school students will receive a free pair of shoes. For those kids who struggle to have nice things, it’s pretty exciting. I think of all these kids who will benefit from this gift and it makes me smile. We’re really excited about it.”
Superintendent Gehrig Johnson said he was equally pleased.
“I think initially they were trying to reach the students who need the shoes, but to avoid any stigma, they decided they’d give shoes to every child,” he said. “There’s no religious connotation to this at all beyond the fact that it’s one of our local churches that did the groundwork for it. It’s a wonderful gift.”
Also at the February meeting, directors:
• Received a brief update on the fiscal year 2015 budget.
“We’ve been working on the budget internally,” said Johnson, “but we haven’t received our preliminary numbers from the state yet. We should have our printout within the next few weeks, and then we’ll have a better idea of what we’ll be receiving for state funds.
“In our preliminary look at the budget, we don’t anticipate being in a position where we’re going to have to eliminate staff,” he said. “I just don’t think that we’re going to need to go there; however, in March I’ll be able to tell you definitely.”
A budget workshop is tentatively scheduled for April 29. A second workshop, if needed, will be held April 30, followed by a special board meeting to approve the budget and warrant articles. The district budget meeting will be held May 20, while the budget validation referendum is set for June 9.
• Accepted the letter of retirement from Sandy Curran, facility manager at Presque Isle Middle School, who will retire June 30.
• Approved a memorandum of understanding with Johnson as it pertains to the Presque Isle International School program that is currently implemented at Dongying High School in Dongying, China and Nanning #3 High School in Nanning, China.
Recognizing that SAD 1 supports implementing an educationally strong International School at Presque Isle High School to accept and provide education for students from other countries who meet PIHS’s criteria for admission, Johnson will direct and be responsible for all aspects of the homestay program including student recruitment, administrative and financial oversight for a three-year period beginning July 1, 2015 and ending June 30, 2018.
“Even after I retire as superintendent June 30, I’ll still continue what I’ve been doing as it relates to arranging host families, and traveling over to China to oversee the International School program,” said Johnson, noting that he will be paid for his services, but at no cost to SAD 1. “The parents of the Chinese students enrolled in the program compensate me for handling their situation over here and over there. The funding has nothing to do with the district.”
The next regular SAD 1 board meeting will be held Wednesday, March 11 at 5:30 p.m. in the PIHS board conference room.
