TURNER — The School Administrative District 52 school board heard concerns voiced by area teachers Thursday night before voting on curriculum development changes.

JoAnne Nickerson, school board member and chairwoman of the Curriculum and Policy Committee that had worked on Policy IGA (intergovernmental agreement), a document that is the official guideline for the procedure on choosing curriculum, said she was frustrated about no longer having a voice about curriculum choices, and understood that choices may be limited because of common core and what is mandated by the state.

Leeds Central School teacher Sheila Lyman said, “My concern is that there seems to be some key language missing.” She was also concerned that the term, “collaborative team” no longer appeared in the new policy.

“We can work within common core standards” but choose the best curriculum to help us get there, she said.

Tripp Middle School teacher Cindy Webber described her experience of being presented with mandated curriculum and being instructed to read the exact “script” of that curriculum.

“We don’t want to be told to use a script, and then be told we’re not doing a good enough job,” she said.

Nickerson said the Policy and Curriculum Committee has been “too focused on policy and not on curriculum” and promised that would change.

Board member Richard Gross said the district needs to “hold our administrators to the grindstone” and rely on them to make sure things are being done collaboratively. He cautioned that changing the document may negate its validity.

Chairwoman Betsy Bullard pointed out that the new policy does not address curriculum choices. She acknowledged teachers’ frustrations and said, “the conversation needs to happen, but it has nothing to do with this document.” 

The board voted to accept the Policy IGA, which was a necessary step in order to implement new diploma standards.

In other business, the voters of Leeds, Greene and Turner will vote on June 14 on whether or not they will fund a new track at a cost not to exceed $550,705. The track is used by over 100 high school students, and 75 middle school students, as well as physical education classes and residents of all three towns.

Along with the track being resurfaced, the scoreboard will be improved and electricity will be added, removing the need for extension cords. The long jump and pole vault pits will be moved to improve drainage problems, which will increase the expected lifespan of the new surface.

Siemens manager Tom Seekins gave a PowerPoint presentation reviewing the accomplishments which led the district to its first runner-up placement in the New England Chapter of the Association of Energy Engineers competition on May 4.

“Every milestone was hit,” he said.

The district will see a guaranteed savings of more than $260,000, he said.

Because of the success of the project, SAD 52 received $595,317 from Efficiency Maine, the largest incentive ever given from the organization to a school, Seekins said.

He said if the district had been competing against schools, they would have easily won. The fact that they came so close to winning against Pepsi-Cola Corp., made it “all the more impressive.”

Some of the improvements included:

• Replacing 3,400 feet of leaking pipes;

• Installing over 3,000 new energy-efficient light fixtures; and

• Connecting the wood chip boiler to all the buildings.

Assistant Chairwoman Diane Morgan motioned to offer comparable insurance coverage to other professional employees as is currently given to teachers.

The measure passed 3-2, with Yuri Kowalski abstaining. 

Betsy Bullard, Diane Morgan, JoAnne Nickerson, voted for the measure; Richard Gross and Peter Ricker voted against it.