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Schools

District 63 Lets 10 To 12 Teachers Go

Board votes to not re-employ first- through fourth-year teachers.

As East Maine School District 63 struggles through a financial crisis, its board of education voted unanimously Wednesday to cut the jobs of teachers who have worked in the district for fewer than five years.

However, some of those teachers may still keep their jobs.

Hilary Liese, president of the East Maine Educators Association, said that the final outcome is dependent on whether or not the teachers' union agrees to negotiate about next year's pay raise. 

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"There are approximately  11 or 12 teachers who are in jeopardy if we don't open the contract," Liese said.

In other business, the board approved the honorable dismissal of non-certified staff, sink replacements at Gemini School, a new logo for the school district, and Teachers' Appreciation week, which will be May 2 to May 6. 

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Here are some highlights from the meeting: 

7:20 p.m. Supt. Scott Clay outlined the process for revising the district's strategic planning document. He plans to meet with staff and administrators, create focus groups of parents at each school, and send out a Constant Contact email survey to get opinions community members.

  • Clay: "We'll look at what people see as strengths of the district, opportunities for change, and any threats people see to the district achieving its goals."
  • Clay: "It has served us well, but we feel like we need something that's more user friendly. We really need to focus on a few solid goals. My hope is that we would come up with three to five goals that are district wide and we can really focus on." 

7:35 p.m.

  • Daniel Barrie, director of operations and maintenance: "The Village of Niles has asked us to share in the cost of resurfacing the street in front of Twain. We do actually own the property to the middle of the street." 
  • Jane Wojtkiewicz, board president: "That's just troubling and you would hope that they were paying attention to what's going on. We are scraping here to try and keep going for a couple of years forward. And for someone to be asking us to put money toward something…"
  • Board Member Steve Levy: "Are they asking or demanding?"
  • Barrie: "They're asking first."
  • Board Member Tom Simmons, joking: "Well, can we sell the street to the Village of Niles?"
  • Board Member Sheila Urban: "Yeah, ask them if they want to buy the street."
  • Barrie: "I'm sure when the schools were built 50 years ago, it was a handshake agreement and everything was fine until the last 20 years."

7:45 p.m. The board heard a presentation from Erin Centanni, director of ESL and bilingual services. This year, the district achieved its Annual Measurable Achievement Objectives, which are required by the state in order to receive Title III funds. The district had fallen short the previous two years.

  • Centanni on the ISAT test:  "This really hit all of us below the belt. Teachers were really frustrated with the fact that our students had to take a test that was not written or developed for English learners. So when we found out we made the objectives, we were jumping up and down. It is very academically demanding of them."
  • Centanni on her pride in the students: "We sent letters to parents telling them that we made it, because if you don't make it, you have to notify everybody. And you know, if you do make it, I think they should know too. This is something we really want to celebrate and be proud of our staff and how hard they've worked."

8:10 p.m.

  • David Bein, the district's executive director of business services, on the renewal of the district's dental insurance: "I'm happy  our rates are what they are. We have a lousy claims history."

8:30 p.m.

  • Charlene Cobb, executive director of instruction and learning, on the district's new logo, which features three children holding their hands in the air in front of a globe with "East Maine School District 63" curved around the border: "I considered it my mission to do this. I have a daughter that is an artist, and we played around with it." 
  • Wojtkiewicz: "This is our identifier for everything. Thank you for taking the bull by the horns and getting this done. Maybe we can dress up one of the walls with this. I think it's very nice." 

8:45 p.m.

  • Wojtkiewicz on the recent flood of Freedom of Information Act requests: "It's still pretty scary that we have a line-item budget—$15,000—to address what's going on here. But we still need to comply, and we will."
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