PARIS — The Maine School Administrative District 17 board of directors Monday unanimously adopted a plan to offer students at Vocational Region 11’s Oxford Hills Technical School Region 11 credits to meet core academic graduation requirements.
The plan accepted Tuesday will cover courses in the business, building construction, plumbing, graphic arts and law enforcement programs.
The credits can only be used to cover core academic requirements and cannot be used for elective credits.
Maine law allows students in technical schools to satisfy graduation requirements which are “separate or integrated study within the career and technical school curriculum, including through courses provided” with the approval of the Education Commissioner and the MSAD 17 board.
The board includes directors from Paris, Norway, Oxford, Otisfield, Waterford, Harrison, Hebron and West Paris.
“This is pretty exciting,” MSAD 17 Superintendent Heather Manchester said. “This has been in the works for quite some time. What this does is to allow students to get credit in some tech programs. There is a new state law that requires high schools to cooperate with their tech schools.”
The policy will also cover students from Buckfield Junior-Senior High School, who also attend Oxford Hills Technical School, which is part of the Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School campus. Buckfield high school is part of Regional School Unit 10, which includes Buckfield, Hartford and Sumner.
The Curriculum Committee endorsed the plan. There was little discussion among the board members.
Following two executive sessions that lasted 44 minutes, the board unanimously accepted a three-year contract with teachers from the Oxford Hills Education Association. The contract includes a 2.25% wage increase for each of the three years.
Manchester said she was especially pleased that the new contract includes additional stipends for special education teachers and social workers in the schools.
The board spent the first 20 minutes of the meeting hosting a reception for the top 5% of Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School class of 2025, who are graduating Saturday.
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