MECHANIC FALLS — Regional School Unit 16 Director of Operations John Hawley provided the school board with updates at its meeting Monday night.

Hawley said problems with Poland Community School’s oil tank might be resolved for less than the $65,000 previously estimated.

He also reported Minot Consolidated School’s oil tank was leaking and that the repair would likely cost more than the district’s savings from the Poland school’s oil tank problem.

“What will make the Minot problem even worse is the contractor encased it in a small building and we’ll have to take that apart in order to remove the tank,” Hawley said.

He indicated they will likely empty the leaking 3,000-gallon tank and leave it in place for now.

Based on the original $65,000 estimate for replacing the Poland school’s oil tank, Hawley said he figures that’s probably what it will cost to empty Minot’s leaking tank and to buy and set up a new one.

At some point, the tank will be removed and the building encasing it will be put back together and used for storage.

The 3,000-gallon tank at the Poland school is sitting in water and its containment structure is completely filled, but it appears the tank itself hasn’t been compromised, he said.

The cost to make it right will probably amount to about $16,000, Hawley said. Both tanks are about 25 to 30 years old, he said.

Hawley also reported that the problem with arsenic levels in water at Minot Consolidated School will be resolved as soon as new filters are installed. The filters have been ordered and will be installed before school begins, he said.

The water has been filtered since the school switched over to a new well at the town garage, about the time the limit for arsenic in water in public systems dropped from 20 micrograms per liter to 10 micrograms. The filtered water tested regularly at zero micrograms of arsenic per liter.

Tests taken in June showed the water contained 14 micrograms per liter, and although flushing the filters reduced the arsenic content to about 8.6 micrograms per liter, officials weren’t happy with a system that delivered water that close to the limit and ordered them replaced.

Superintendent Tina Meserve reported that registration for pre-kindergarten students is down by about 30 students districtwide. Registration stands at 21 students at Elm Street School, 14 at Minot Consolidated School and 36 at Poland Community School.

In other business, the board:

* Approved changes to adult education graduation requirements, raising the number of credits required for graduation from 18 to 20;

* Approved the hiring of nine new teachers;

* Amended the policy governing credit card use to include the finance director and director of operations; and

* Approved an amendment to the co-curricular eligibility policy, which was altered to match the way grading is now practiced at the school, following a presentation by Poland Regional High School Principal Cari Medd.