JAY — Concern has been expressed over the dissolution of a partnership that provided Commercial Driver’s License [CDL] training for adult learners.

“I was very excited to be a part of that,” Livermore resident Dave Jordan said during the Regional School Unit 73 Board of Directors meeting Thursday night, Oct. 13. “I was very excited to have Spruce Mountain put on a CDL program right here in my backyard. I am an amputee. One of the things I promised myself was I was going to get my CDL license after I lost my leg. I was excited to be able to come up to Spruce Mountain because I went to school across the river, grew up in Livermore.”

Jordan said he had reached out to Superintendent Scott Albert and Spruce Mountain Adult and Community Education Director Robyn Raymond about his concerns.

“I feel given what is going on with the mill that this type of thing, this is prime to have a CDL program,” Jordan said. “I highly suggest you take the money to do that.”

Jordan indicated he is the master of a Masonic Lodge being started in Livermore. “We have funding available that could probably help you out,” he noted. “There is money available through Maine Masonic Charitable Foundation. I am sure if they realized what is going on, especially with the mill I am sure they would come up with some help.

“I was sorry to see the relationship with Maranacook and Spruce Mountain go south. I think you guys have a team that could make it happen, make it happen the right way. That is my concern.”

Jordan was thanked for speaking up by Board of Directors Vice Chair D. Robin Beck. “There is a lot as a board we can’t do,” she said. “I was not aware of what happened. Thank you as a community member to step up, to help out.

“That is what we all need to do. We need to be together as a community, we need to support the people that are losing their jobs and their kids that are still in the school system. We are not here to educate just the kids but the entire community.”

Spruce Mountain and Maranacook adult education programs had worked together to provide the training. According to the Spruce Mountain Adult and Community Education Facebook page, a CDL Class B course was to have been offered in November.

“It was a philosophical difference on how we would like the program to run,” Albert wrote in an email Monday morning. It was RSU 38’s program to run, we were just partners since we gave them a place to have a satellite class, he noted. “Both districts felt it was in both district’s best interest not to continue that partnership,” he added.

In her administrative report given later in the meeting Thursday, Raymond spoke on the issue. “I feel very strongly that this is a worthwhile and needed training program in our community for both Class B and A, especially with the mill closing,” she said. “I hope that we can have further discussions around what that may look like especially during the upcoming budgeting process for Fiscal Year 2024.”

“I am unable to discuss the details at this time,” Raymond wrote in an email Monday morning following requests for additional information. “My understanding is that a student in the CDL course filed a formal complaint to the Secretary of State against Maranacook, and the State will investigate the student’s claims. The first class started on Aug. 1.”

Thursday evening Raymond noted she has been working closely with Jay Town Manager Shiloh LaFreniere, the Maine Department of Labor and the Rapid Response team to map out how to assist with the mill closure. Some 75 percent of displaced workers live in Franklin or Androscoggin county, she stated. “I will be on-site on Oct. 18 for employee meetings at Pixelle, and will be organizing a community resource and job fair which will hopefully take place in our adult ed building [in Livermore Falls],” she said. More details will be available soon, she added.