By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
HODGDON — When students return to classes next month at Mill Pond Elementary School, there will be one less group in the building.
SAD 70 school board members signed off on a plan Monday evening to consolidate two seventh-grade classrooms, due to a smaller-than-usual enrollment for the grade.
According to Lorene Wiley, Mill Pond Elementary School principal, the incoming seventh grade class has just 23 students, compared to 40 for both the sixth and eighth grades. Because of the reduced size, Wiley said only one group for seventh graders was needed this year.
By consolidating the grade, the district would be able to reallocate one individual to help offset some of the positions lost during budget cuts this past spring.
“The students in this class were always in one classroom until December, 2011,” Wiley explained. “At that time, the class had 27 students and there were several students who liked to antagonize the other students and interrupt their learning.”
To remedy the situation, that group was split into two classes following the Christmas break in 2011. Since then, some of the students left the school district, dropping the total to 23. Wiley said she felt that the two groups could be re-combined into one class.
The consolidated group will see 18 students in language arts and math classes, while science and social studies classes will have 22 students. An education technician will be in each of the four classrooms to assist the teacher.
“It didn’t really make sense to have one class with six students and another with 12,” Wiley added. “This is an opportunity for a great class to be put back together.”
In other agenda items, the board learned the district is still without a Special Education director and superintendent as the start of a new school year draws near. SAD 70 has been looking to fill the positions since Superintendent Bob McDaniel and Special Education Director Cynthia McNutt resigned at the end of the 2012-13 school year.
The search for a new superintendent is being processed through the Maine Municipal Association. Clayton Belanger was hired in May to serve as the interim superintendent until a fulltime replacement could be hired.
To assist with the Special Education duties, the district reached out to one of its former directors — Scott Richardson — to see if he would be able to assist. Richardson is currently the Special Education Director for RSU 50 (Southern Aroostook and Katahdin).
According to Lane, Richardson has agreed to help the district for “a couple of days” to ensure all of the necessary paperwork is ready for the start of the school year.
In other agenda items, the board:
• Accepted the resignations of Dee Hutchinson and Elizabeth Connors.
• Granted a one-day leave of absence, without pay, to Jennifer Harmon and Jody Davis.
• Approved the nomination of Renee Smith as a social studies teacher at Mill Pond School.
