LIVERMORE FALLS — All students in Spruce Mountain schools were dismissed early Monday, May 1, due to weather conditions.

“Despite the forecast of the rain stopping and temps staying warm, water is still rising in a number of places,” a notice sent out from Regional School Unit 73 noted shortly before 9 a.m.

Out of an abundance of caution, RSU 73 dismissed kindergarten through grade 12 students at 11 a.m., and the pre-kindergarten students at 11:30. All after-school activities were cancelled.

At just after 6 a.m. Monday, the district sent out a notice warning of flooded roads and the impact it was having on student transportation.

Parents were advised that due to the weather, a lot of roads were impassable and closed due to trees down and flooding. “Please take your child to the nearest and safest bus stop to meet the bus,” it stated. “Also, expect buses to be delayed due to detours and road closures. If you decide not to send your child, please just let your school office know.”

Transportation Director Norma Jackman was contacted to obtain additional information.

“The lists are growing as time goes on,” she wrote in an email midmorning.

The decision to release early was made after speaking with Livermore Falls and Livermore road crews about roads being closed and trees and wires down, she noted. “I was concerned that we would not get the students home later in the day due to more roads being damaged and rising water going over the roads as the day [continued]. Some people thoughts were it will get higher before it gets lower.”

Bus routes affected by road closures:

Livermore
• Goding Road
• River Road
• Boothby Road
• Norton Road
• Robinson Road/River Road – wires down

Livermore Falls
• Claybrook/Souther Road intersection/Record Road/Moose Hill
• Route 133/Route 106

Jay
• Granite Heights – tree across the road
• Morse Hill Road – flooded
• Davenport Hill Road/Route 140 – concerns of water rising as the day goes by, need to get students home before that happened
• Keep Road near the Route 17 East Dixfield Road end

Franklin County Emergency Management Agency put out a request to stay off the roads and not travel unless necessary because roads look passable but are not, Jackman noted.