PARIS — Troy Ripley of Paris and Kitty Winship of Waterford were reelected Monday to their third terms as chair and vice chair, respectively, of the Maine School Administrative District 17 board of directors.

No others were nominated.

Director Donna Marshall of West Paris was the lone member opposing Ripley’s reelection, while votes for Winship were unanimous.

The board determined no changes will be made to its Finance Committee for the new fiscal year: Nathan Broyer of Oxford, Marylin Newell and Lew Williams, both of Hebron, Jennifer Russell of Paris and Ripley.

Debra Hertell, executive assistant to Superintendent Heather Manchester, was also unanimously reelected as voter registration clerk for district meetings.

Hertell distributed a summary of committees and a list for directors to indicate which they would prefer to volunteer for. Each representative is generally expected to sit on two committees.

Standing committees are: finance, budget, personnel, negotiations, policy, operations, curriculum, Vocational Region 11 appointments and ad hoc.

West Paris Director Veronica Poland addressed members about setting goals for all the committees that operate for school board business, saying it will give all directors a better sense of the work being done.

“I would love to see us do a workshop on committee goals,” she said. “To talk about our responsibilities when serving on the committees. I’d love to see the individual committees have goals and a way to measure them.”

MSAD 17’s strategic plan is based on four overall pillars: 1. Healthy and resilient students; 2. Maximize facilities to promote learning; 3. Recruit and grow talent; and 4. Rigorous, relevant and responsive learning.

“I know we have our four pillars, but I think this is also important,” Poland said. “We trust the committees and get reports, but there is a lot that I don’t know because I can’t attend every meeting. I personally think we should all have an understanding of what the committees’ responsibilities are.”

She said having a grasp on what the committees do to support the district’s strategic plan will help all directors be able to communicate to citizens how the district is working to achieve results.

In a review of Budget Committee responsibilities, as an example, Ripley pointed out that its functions are broad-based, to which Poland agreed.

“There are no goals there,” she said. “And five years from now it could be different than what we have currently.”

“Operations is another. We are currently working on a capital reserve plan, and in five years we could have a different plan,” she said

Manchester suggested two possibilities: Each committee meets to determine what they felt needs to be accomplished over the next year, or looking at a period of three to five years.

Poland responded that when she looks at committee notes she is not involved with she might not get a full understanding of the work being done to meet district needs, at least enough to respond to constituents’ inquiries.

Williams pointed out that it is up to the committees to advise the school board and administration to make overall decisions, pointing out that with the transportation department’s goal to become more fuel efficient, the operations committee is reviewing a transition to propane-powered buses and would recommend how the board proceeds but not determine it.

Manchester said that through the strategic plan the district has clear goals.

Poland responded that committees should also have them for accountability and review to ensure its work supports them.

“We have a lot of hard work to do over the next five years,” she said.

“That we are having this conversation is exceedingly heartening and represents a huge development in the board’s sense of internal processes and goals,” Director Mark Heidmann of Harrison said.

Ripley suggested that including a workshop on committee goals with the board’s annual retreat was a feasible way to move the discussion along.

Director Peter Wood of Norway agreed.

A retreat, including workshop and other matters, will be discussed at the next board meeting Aug. 4.

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