DIXFIELD — Regional School Unit 56 Superintendent Pam Doyen presented the board of directors Tuesday evening with details for three options for the proposed budget for 2018-19, as requested by the board. The options were a 4 percent increase over 2017-18, 2 percent increase and no increase. After hearing the details of each, the board […]
RSU 56
RSU 56 owed $60,000 from MaineCare
PERU — Regional School Unit 56 Superintendent Pam Doyen told directors Thursday night that the district has not billed MaineCare for behavioral health services this school year because it doesn’t have a person to process claims. “We have not been able to hire (a licensed social worker or psychologist) to do that piece so we […]
School board votes to extend school day by one hour due to storms
DIXFIELD — Regional School Unit 56 directors voted Thursday night to extend class times one hour beginning Monday to make up for five storm days. Superintendent Pam Doyen said doing so would make the last day of school June 15. The board also considered canceling teachers’ professional development and a late-start for students on Wednesdays, […]
JV baseball and softball reinstated at RSU 56
DIXFIELD — Directors of Regional School Unit 56 voted this week to reinstate junior varsity baseball and softball for this year, Chairwoman Barbara Chow said Tuesday. Chow said $3,500 was raised by community members to pay for the programs. “Right now there isn’t nearly enough money for softball but if we do one, we do […]
Administrator: Dirigo High School has serious substance abuse problem
PERU — Regional School Unit 56 directors were told Tuesday that there is a “pretty serious” substance abuse problem among students at Dirigo High School and drug searches should be done consistently. “We have a substance abuse problem in our student body population, a pretty serious one that far exceeds the state averages,” Assistant Principal Jason […]
School districts tally five snow days
Superintendents for Regional School Units 10 and 56 canceled classes Wednesday, bringing the number of snow days to five this school year. RSU 10 Superintendent Deborah Alden and RSU 56 Superintendent Pam Doyen said the last day of school will be June 18, if there are no more snow days. “For each additional snow day, […]
Fundraising request tabled by RSU 56
DIXFIELD — Regional School Unit 56 directors tabled a decision Tuesday on whether to allow people to raise money to reinstate some sports programs not funded in this year’s budget. The board will revisit the request at their Feb. 26 meeting. Superintendent Pam Doyen said a federal law prohibiting sex discrimination in any federally funded […]
Dirigo principal lauds teacher evaluation plan
DIXFIELD — Dirigo Elementary School Principal Charles Swan told Regional School Unit 56 directors Tuesday that the recently instituted teacher evaluation system is time-consuming but eventually will be better than the previous one. The Performance Evaluation and Professional Growth plan is the same one developed when RSU 56 was part of RSU 10, more than a […]
RSU 56 board joins service center process
DIXFIELD — The Regional School Unit 56 school board voted unanimously Tuesday to continue with an application to join a Regional Service Center. A Maine Department of Education law says that school districts must join to share services such as programming, business and transportation, and administration, or they stand to lose $46 per student in […]
RSU 56 looking to fill guidance, gifted and talented positions
DIXFIELD — Dirigo High School and T.W. Kelly Dirigo Middle School Principal Mike Poulin told Regional School Unit 56 directors Tuesday night that he’s doubtful two positions will be filled before classes start Aug. 30. The vacancies are a guidance counselor for grades kindergarten through eight and a part-time gifted and talented position for grades […]