Emma Concaugh, of Oakland, was named to the College of the Holy Cross, in Worcester, Massachusetts, fall 2022 dean’s list.
A member of the class of 2024, Concaugh was named to the dean’s list for outstanding academic achievement during the fall semester of the 2022-23 academic year.
Vassalboro Community School (contributed photo)
Vassalboro School Superintendent Alan Pfeiffer doesn’t know yet how much larger next year’s school budget will be compared to this year’s, but he expects an increase.
One item on the school board’s March 21 agenda was continued review of sections of the draft 2023-24 budget (see The Town Line, March 16, pp. 8-9). Board members discussed the school health program and building and grounds maintenance.
They scheduled a budget workshop Wednesday, March 29, at Vassalboro Community School (VCS). If they have enough information from the state education department and other sources, they hope to review the entire budget.
Pfeiffer reported March 21 that fuel prices had been determined, and he and Director of Maintenance and Grounds Shelley Phillips are pleased. The school department has locked in Dead River Company’s low bids: heating oil at $3.07 a gallon (10 cents over the current year, and they had feared at least a dollar increase); diesel fuel at $3.11 a gallon; and the small amount of propane needed at $1.74 a gallon (slightly less than this year, Pfeiffer said).
The total building and grounds budget Pfeiffer and Phillips shared with school board members is over $577,000, an increase of more than $31,000 (5.8 percent) over the current year. Higher wages and associated benefits account for much of the increase.
Phillips presented details on building maintenance plans. Two ongoing projects are replacing worn-out plumbing fixtures and replacing fluorescent lights with LED (the acronym stands for light-emitting diode) lights.
She told board members three major projects are pending in the next two or three years. The 31-year-old school (still referred to as “the new building,” she commented) needs its exterior brickwork cleaned and repointed and the gymnasium roof replaced; and curbing along driveways and parking lots needs replacing.
During discussion of the much smaller health budget, Pfeiffer commended new school nurse Megan Sutherburg and former nurse Mary Ann Fortin. Fortin, he said, subs when necessary and came in for several days to help during an outbreak of influenza.
An early highlight of the March 21 meeting was Principal Ira Michaud’s report on the VCS Pi Day celebration. Students competed to recite from memory the most digits of the number pi (which begins 3.14159 and goes on indefinitely).
Michaud reported, using adjectives “amazing” and “astounding,” that the runner-up in the contest was fifth-grader Serena Lacroix, who recited 130 digits and was disappointed: she’d done 150 in practice. The winner was sixth-grader Adrian Souza, who recited 187 digits correctly.
Winners were allowed to throw a pie at either the principal or the math teacher. His report included a photo of fifth-grade math teacher Lorraine Kingsbury and himself garnished with whipped cream.
The principal looks forward to scheduling other student competitions, like a spelling bee and a geography bee.
He also praised school counselor Gina David for holding Bubble Day to celebrate the first day of spring. Students blew bubbles on the playground; Michaud reported some called it “the greatest day at school they had ever had.”
Michaud summarized recent professional development programs, including one shared with Regional School Unit (RSU) #18 staff at the invitation of RSU #18 Superintendent Carl Gartley. The majority of teachers who attended said they would welcome more such cooperative programs; Michaud hopes some can be scheduled.
In other business, school board members unanimously approved the revised board handbook they have worked on for some weeks, subject to a replacement for the outdated cover photo. Pfeiffer plans to have the handbook on the VCS website, vcsvikings.org, and to distribute paper copies to public places in town.
After the March 29 budget meeting, the next regular Vassalboro school board meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m., Tuesday, April 11, in the VCS library. If another budget meeting is needed, it will be held as soon as possible after March 29.
The following students were named to the dean’s list at Rochester Institute of Technology, in Rochester, New York, for the fall semester of the 2022-2023 academic year. Full-time degree-seeking undergraduate students are eligible for dean’s list if their term GPA is greater than or equal to 3.400; they do not have any grades of “Incomplete”, “D” or “F”; and they have registered for, and completed, at least 12 credit hours.
Kieran McCarthy-O’Flaherty, of Oakland, who is in the computer engineering program.
Jasmine Ward, of Skowhegan, who is in the accounting program.
Brianna Paine, of Madison, was named to the Fall 2022 dean’s list at Berry College, in Rome, Georgia. The dean’s list honors students who posted an academic average of 3.5 or better on a 4.0 scale while carrying a class load of at least 12 hours during the semester.
Maggie Pono, of Skowhegan, has been named to the Champlain College dean’s list, in Burlington, Vermont, for the fall 2022 semester.
Andrei Llanto, of Waterville, has been named to the deans’ list at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, in Lincoln, Nebraska, for the fall semester of the 2022-23 academic year.
Llanto, a freshman majoring in business and law, was named to the dean’s list for the College of Business.
The following local residents have earned an Award of Excellence at Western Governors University, in Salt Lake City, Utah. The award is given to students who perform at a superior level in their coursework.
Whitney Poplawski, of Augusta, has earned an Award of Excellence at Western Governors University Leavitt School of Health.
Brenda Ryder, of Liberty, has earned an Award of Excellence at Western Governors University College of Business.
Second Grade Chess Champ: Second grader, Gavin Henderson, left, won first place in a chess tournament, in Bangor, over February vacation. It was Gavin’s first tournament and he placed first in the K-4th grade unrated division. He plans to enter two more tournaments this year. Look for his name in the future. Gavin loves chess and practices whenever he can. He is pictured with RSU #18 Superintendent Carl Gartley who plans to challenge Gavin to a match in the near future. RSU #18 comprises the towns of Oakland, Belgrade, Rome, Sidney and China. (contributed photo)
More than 1,100 students earned a spot on the President’s List for the Fall 2022 semester at Coastal Carolina University, in Conway, South Carolina. Area students named to the president’s list include, Delaney Johnston, and Katelyn Robertson, both of Oakland
Vassalboro Community School (contributed photo)
Vassalboro School Board members began review of the 2023-24 school budget at a special meeting March 7, with information on four cost centers.
The easiest category was ELL – English Language Learners. Superintendent Alan Pfeiffer said there are no ELL students this school year and none expected next year; he and finance director Paula Pooler agreed it should be safe to budget no money for 2023-24.
Certification – the budget lines that provide assistance to novice teachers – will have almost as little impact on the budget. Pfeiffer proposes budgeting less than $5,000 for that account.
For the 2023-24 technology budget, technology coordinator Will Backman requests almost $71,000, an increase of over $27,000 from the current year. Backman told school board members more than half the increase is intended for a rearrangement of the technology center.
He and Vassalboro Community School teacher and technology systems administrator David Trask explained that the central equipment is currently divided between two closets, one shared with the janitors. The plan is to consolidate everything in one server room. Backman does not yet know how much rewiring will be needed.
Backman also recommends $5,000 to replace a server, plus the usual technology costs and fees. The two experts and Principal Ira Michaud commented on technology added during the pandemic to facilitate remote learning that will be kept because teachers are finding it useful in classroom learning.
The largest budget item presented March 7 was the transportation account. Transportation Director Ashley Pooler is asking for a little over $647,000, an increase of more than $50,000.
The request does not include new school buses, although Peiffer said by next year board members might see a recommendation for at least one. An attached chart shows two of Vassalboro’s 12 buses have more than 100,000 miles on their odometers.
Pooler does recommend buying a third van; her chart lists two in service this year, each with a capacity of seven students. She further recommends another secretary in the transportation department, partly because of the increasing number of vans to support students’ educational programming.
Pooler and her staff serve all three formerly-united towns, Vassalboro, Waterville and Winslow, so the secretarial costs would be shared.
Pooler also recommends an increase in the vehicle maintenance budget.
Pfeiffer commented that Vassalboro’s fleet is “in good shape right now,” and as of March 7 the school department had enough drivers, many of them Vassalboro residents.
School budget discussions will continue at future meetings, to be announced as they are scheduled. The next topics Pfeiffer intends to present include buildings and grounds and special education (“a big one,” he warned).
The superintendent reported that high-school tuition went up 6.5 percent in December 2022, “one of the biggest jumps ever.” The 2022-23 Vassalboro budget was calculated to cover a three percent increase.
Because budgets are done in the spring every year and the new tuition rate comes out in December, school board and budget committee members and town meeting voters can only guess how much to appropriate.
The next regular Vassalboro school board meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 21, at Vassalboro Community School.