Staff Writer
CARIBOU — The RSU 39 school board met at the Technology Center at Caribou High School on Oct. 17 instead of the usual meeting location, the Superintendent’s Office, in order to have the necessary equipment to take part in a video workshop explaining recent changes made to the law regarding student expulsion. Bruce Smith of Drummond Woodsum, a law firm that represents school units throughout Maine and New Hampshire, conducted the workshop.
Under the new law, a school administrator may only suspend a student for up to 10 days, allowing them to make up their missed schoolwork. Any other act felt punishable beyond those 10 days will be considered an expulsion and punishment must be administered via an expulsion hearing conducted by the school board. Smith reviewed the circumstances under which a student can face expulsion and the school board’s responsibilities in conducting a hearing and devising a plan for re-entry into the school.
Changes to the law include the student being able to obtain alternative forms of education during their expulsion period, whereas before they could not. A re-entry plan must be formulated and the student must satisfactorily prove to the board that they have met all requirements and that the behavior that caused them to be expelled will most likely not occur again. If a re-entry plan includes counseling, the school system is not required to pay for it; the students’ family must find a way to provide counseling.
The workshop also provided some clarification of what constitutes a “scheduled drug,” a warning to members of the board against allowing hearsay to cloud their judgment during a hearing, and an explanation of a student’s rights to representation at their hearing.
Other matters discussed at the meeting included the fact that board members Clifford Rhome and Lynn McNeal would be attending the Maine State Board Association’s annual assembly on Oct. 25 and 26 in Augusta. The board unanimously elected McNeal to be the voting delegate to represent RSU 39 during the conference.
The board unanimously approved two policies, Use of Physical Restraints and Seclusion, and The Public’s Right to Know/Freedom of Access. The board also discussed and approved a second reading of a third policy, Staff Participation in Political Activities, which had been tabled previously. Board member Scott Willey objected to the second reading.
RSU 39 Superintendent Frank McElwain gave his superintendent’s report and provided a list of recent staff changes.
Resignations were accepted from Marie Beckum, Caribou High School alpine ski coach; Lori Soucy, educational technician, Teague Park; Dustin Damboise, mid-level girls’ basketball coach, Limestone Community School.
Pat Allen, Destination Imagination adviser, was approved to transfer from mid level to high school level.
Recently hired on as RSU 39 new employees were Sarah LaJoie, student organization adviser, Caribou Middle School; Von Taggart, educational technician II, Life Skills; Rebecca West, Limestone JV girls’ basketball coach.
McElwain also advised that the school system gathered a number of unused and unwanted items over the summer and have placed them up for public bid. The items are on display in the storage side of the Caribou bus garage for the public to view and then place sealed bids on items they may be interested in. If the items are not sold, they will either be given to charity or disposed of if appropriate.
The final topic McElwain spoke about in his report was the latest session of Leadership Maine that he attended. It was held at the University of Maine in Orono and highlighted UMO’s innovative engineering program, which is not a conventional engineering course in that it does not focus on math and formulas; instead it teaches students the learning skills and processes they can use to be innovative. McElwain found it to be an interesting and useful topic.
The next RSU 39 board meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 7 at 7 p.m. at the Superintendent’s Office.
