SAD 29 bids adieu to outgoing board members

By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
    HOULTON — The SAD 29 board of directors bid a fond farewell to two outgoing board members Monday evening in what turned out to be one of the board’s shorter meetings in recent memory.
    Kim Thompson and Frances Grant were recognized as outgoing board members at the meeting and were presented with school bells to remind them of their time on the board.
    Grant, who served one term on the school board, said she was thankful for her time on the board.
    “I’ve been honored to have the opportunity to serve,” Grant said. “It’s been both an experience and an education for me.”
    Thompson, who has served on the SAD 29 board for the past six-and-a half years, said she enjoyed her time on the board, but wished a term limits policy could have been created, similar to the policy the Houlton Town Council employs.
    “I think that school board’s should make a policy that after two terms you have to sit out at least one term,” she said. “I think that would bring in fresh ideas.”
Houlton Pioneer Times Photo/Joseph Cyr
OUTGOING MEMBERS — SAD 29 said farewell to two school board members and its interim superintendent Monday. Attending their final meeting were, from left, board member Kim Thompson, outgoing superintendent Peter Edgecomb and board member Frances Grant.
    “I would like thank Fran and Kim for their many years of service,” board chairman Liz Anderson said. “There are a lot of people out there that appreciate your participation, thoughts and time spent. It’s not an easy job, so I thank you for your service.”
    In other agenda items, the board:
    • Learned Marc Faulkingham was transferred from seventh-grade girls basketball coach to junior varsity girls basketball coach due to a resignation.
    • Approved the nomination of Ryan Hill as a seventh-grade girls basketball coach; Ben Drew as eighth-grade girls basketball coach; Rick Holmes as fifth- and sixth-grade girls basketball coach; and Pam Bartlett as Houlton Southside School cheerleading coach.
    • Thanked Patty and Doug Swallow of Swallow’s Electric for their donation of new chairs for the high school basketball program. The padded, folding chairs are labeled with the Houlton Shiretowners’s logo and feature a plaque on the back of the chair.
    • Approved a revised custodian job description for the district.
    The next regular meeting of the SAD 29 school board will be Monday, Dec. 6 at 6 p.m. in the superintendent’s conference room.