Vassalboro school board hears plans for schools during shut down

Vassalboro Community School. (source: jmg.org)

by Mary Grow

Vassalboro School Board members held their first virtual meeting March 24, and thanks to the technical expertise of David Trask and Will Backman it worked efficiently. From their homes, board members and administrators discussed issues and made decisions as though they were sitting in the same room.

Much of the discussion involved reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic that made the virtual meeting necessary. Vassalboro Community School (VCS) has not held classes since Friday, March 13; decisions included unanimous votes to retroactively approve the closure from March 16 to March 27 and extend it to April 27.

Superintendent Alan Pfeiffer congratulated staff and administrators on their response to the situation. He has spent a lot of time coordinating action and exchanging ideas with state education officials and other area superintendents, he said.

VCS Principal Megan Allen said she has focused on keeping teachers and students connected and parents informed. Plans being made for April include daily check-ins with students via video, email or other technologies; sending lists of virtual learning opportunities students may visit if they choose; robocalls sharing new developments; and information about when and how best to reach a teacher.

Teaching staff are expected to spend at least five hours a week doing on-line professional development. Some might choose to explore more ways to communicate from a distance, Allen said.

Rather than eliminate school breakfast and lunch programs, VCS bus drivers and volunteer staff members are using big yellow buses for morning and noon meals-on-wheels deliveries, Pfeiffer said.

Allen said about 300 meals go out on each run. VCS’s enrollment is about 418, she added. There is plenty of food available, Pfeiffer said, but one item on his to-do list is finding out whether state education officials approve of the program.

At one point, the superintendent said, VCS ran low on bags for the meals. Bus driver Bob Hall appealed to Carl and Phyllis Farris, owners of Lakeview Lumber, in China, and the Farrises donated an ample supply of bags.

On other topics, school board members unanimously accepted the resignation of Kyle Irvine as Educational Technician I, Life Skills Program, and hired Tanya Doyon as his replacement. Pfeiffer said Irvine is pleased to be moving into a vacant position on the custodial staff, and welcomed Irvine’s experience and skills.

Allen and Waterville-based central office Special Education Director Amy Benham said Doyon had been at VCS only a week when the school shut down, but both said she had already made a good impression.

Board members discussed their involvement with the town-sponsored solar energy project. Pfeiffer and Jessica Clark, school board representative on the town solar committee, said the latest proposal is to buy into an out-of-town solar farm rather than have one built in Vassalboro, and the question is whether school board members are still interested. A decision was postponed to the special board meeting scheduled for 5:45 p.m. Tuesday, March 31, mostly for more work on the 2020-21 school budget.

The next regular school board meeting is set for 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 14, “hopefully in person,” Board Chairman Kevin Levasseur said.