The SAD 44 School Board at Tuesday night’s meeting. Bethel Citizen photo by Alison Aloisio

BETHEL—The SAD 44 School Board Tuesday approved the appointment of Julie Hart as the new Adult Education director.

Hart has served as the executive director of the Mahoosuc Kids Association program for 18 years.

She will split her time for the rest of this school year between the two jobs to provide a smooth transition, Superintendent Dave Murphy said. Sixty percent of her time will go to Adult Ed and 40 to MKA.  Her salary for Adult Ed will be $36,000 this year and increase to $60,000 next year when she becomes full time, he said.

Murphy said Hart is “well-connected” in the community and experienced at grant-writing, qualities that will be beneficial in her new position.

The last Adult Ed director was Lois Ruff, who retired a year ago.  Ruff has continued to provide support to the program in the interim, Murphy said.

Also hired was Bonnie Spencer as a part-time licensed clinical social worker position at Crescent Park School, to complement an existing part-time social worker.

In another personnel move, the board authorized Murphy to hire a full-time English teacher at Telstar High School to fill in for a teacher expected to be on long-term medical leave.  He said using day-by-day substitutes wasn’t working and was “not fair to the kids,” who are juniors and seniors. Principal Mark Kenney said there is a severe shortage of substitute teachers.

Snow days, athletic teams

Murphy told directors of a recent conversation he had with state Commissioner of Education Pender Makin on the topics of snow day makeups and dwindling participation on athletic teams.

SAD 44, like other districts, has had a higher number of snow days in recent years compared to the past.  Last year the district went 25 days with an hour added to the end of each school day to make up the 15 days lost to the weather.  He said during the makeup period students were leaving home in the dark and returning in the dark. Murphy said he talked to Makin about other future options, and the commissioner was receptive.  Murphy plans to have a proposal for the board to consider in November.  He did not elaborate on what it would involve.

Regarding the decline in participation on school sports teams, Murphy said he also discussed with Makin the possibility of providing some opportunities for students to earn physical education credit for playing on teams.  Murphy said he did not envision that being a “blanket” policy, but something that building administrators could decide on.

He noted that Telstar has lost students to other schools because some sports are no longer offered or the teams are much smaller, resulting in even smaller teams each successive year and compounding the problem.

THS Community Day, drones, China

Kenney and THS Dean of Students John Eliot reported to the board on several events/projects at the school.

The school held its first “Community Day” Oct. 10, which provided the entire student body an opportunity to do community service on the same day.

Telstar requires that each student perform 40 hours of such service over four years in order to graduate.

Eliot said some students have in the past struggled to find projects to fulfill the requirement, and focusing some of it on one day gives each 6 hours toward the 10-hour annual average.

He said 150 students fanned out in the SAD 44 community from Woodstock to Newry, with only two others having an “unexcused” absence that day.

The participating students stacked wood, including helping the Bethel Rotary Club with a residential wood-stacking project, brought in hay, helped winterize buildings at the 4-H Camp in Bryant Pond, cleaned buses, picked up trash on the Bethel Pathway and helped at the Bethel Historical Society, among other activities.

“The kids were extremely positive,” said Eliot.

Added Kenney, “We hope to make it an annual fall event.”

The two administrators also reported on an online “drone/pilot” class that several THS students have been taking through the University of Maine at Augusta. It enables them to prepare to take a licensing test at the end of the class to qualify for an Federal Aviation Administration license to operate drones, which could lead to jobs in the future. The students could also take a more advanced class on the design and workings of drones next semester.

Kenney and Eliot also provided an update on a planned trip by THS students to China next month, as part of an exchange program.  Four students and two staff members are expected to go for about two weeks, visiting three schools, including one that sent students to Bethel this summer.  The THS staff members also plan to teach some classes in China.

New director

The School Board welcomed new member Stephanie Erickson of Newry, who was appointed by selectmen to take over for Kelly Scott, who resigned.

The next board meeting will take place Nov. 4 at the Woodstock Elementary School, at 6:30 p.m.