RUMFORD — The Regional School Unit 10 board of directors approved a $287,365 bond Monday night for three new school buses.

The State Department of Education will pay about 90% of the cost, Building, Grounds and Transportation Director Scott Holmes said.

The buses will arrive in mid-October and two will be for Rumford area schools and one for Buckfield area schools, he said.

Of the three banks that bid for the bond, First National Bank was selected, offering a 2.08% interest rate.

In other business, Crystal Duguay, director of the Western Foothills Regional Program, told directors there are about 36 students with special needs in the K-12 school in Rumford.

“Our biggest hurdle right now is the intensity of the behaviors that we’ve seen,” she said.

Mountain Valley High School students Hunter Blauvelt, left, and Averie Pingree requested permission from the RSU 10 board of directors for an overnight leadership conference for themselves and five other Jobs for Maine Graduate students from MVHS. MVHS student board representative Colby Volkernick is seated nearest to Pingree and Board Director Travis Palmer of Rumford is at right. Marianne Hutchinson/Rumford Falls Times

The school has two full-time social workers, along with Duguay, who is also a social worker.

In other business, Mountain Valley High School students Averie Pingree and Hunter Blauvelt received permission for themselves and five other Jobs for Maine Graduates students to attend a leadership conference in October in Maine. They will learn to develop leadership skills, cooperation and teamwork, they said.

The board also approved a 3-night stay at the University of Maine 4-H Camp & Learning Center in Bryant Pond for a seventh-grade class at Mountain Valley Middle School in Mexico to study environmental issues.

In another matter, school board student representatives Jessica Doucette of Buckfield Junior-Senior High School and Colby Volkernick of Mountain Valley High School gave reports. Doucette said the Buckfield soccer teams have had many victories, and Volkernick said it’s Homecoming Week at the Rumford school.

Mhutchinson@sunmediagroup.net