SAD 1 staffing nearly at full strength

    PRESQUE ISLE, Maine – Staffing at Presque Isle High School, which opened for classes Aug. 14, is at 100 percent, while there is still one teaching slot to be filled at Mapleton Elementary School.
At the Aug. 8 SAD 1 board meeting, a number of staff transfers were announced and appointments were approved.     “It’s been a busy couple of weeks with several mid- to late-summer resignations,” said Superintendent Gehrig Johnson. “We’ve been busy working to fill these slots.”
Lyn Edgecomb, who had been a fifth-grade teacher at Mapleton Elementary School, is now the early childhood development teacher/program coordinator at the Presque Isle Regional Career and Technology Center.
Edgecomb replaces Loretta Clark, who is the new principal at Pine Street Elementary School. Clark also served as the director of the district’s Pre-K Program, which is now overseen by Gail Gibson, who will continue to serve as the principal of Mapleton Elementary School.
“All we need to do now is fill the fifth-grade teaching position at Mapleton,” said Johnson.
At the meeting, directors granted a one-year leave of absence to Margaret Bujold, a Spanish teacher at Presque Isle High School. Trevor Esposito, who filled in for Bujold last school year, will teach for one year.
Norma Nadeau, who has resigned as a first-grade teacher at Pine Street Elementary School, will now be a half-time kindergarten teacher at Pine Street. Jennifer Espling has been transferred from a half-time pre-K to the full-time grade one position vacated by Nadeau.
Linda Kelly has resigned from her position as school nurse noting she would like to “operate in a wider management sphere.” Directors voted to appoint Alison Ireland as the new districtwide school nurse. Ireland, who has 12 years of experience, received her bachelor of science in nursing from Husson College.
Georgette Ireland, teacher and chair of the math department at Presque Isle High School, has resigned to become the new principal at Easton Junior-Senior High School. Directors appointed Mindy Bragg as the new math teacher at PIHS. A long-term substitute teacher in the math department and a PIHS graduate, Bragg received her bachelor of science in secondary education from the University of Maine at Presque Isle.
Mary White has accepted the position of elementary social worker at Zippel Elementary School pending the resignation of the person presently occupying the job. White has 17 years of experience at AMHC and received her bachelor of arts in behavioral science from the University of Maine at Presque Isle, and her master of social work from the University of Maine at Orono.
“This is a maze trying to get everybody where they want to be,” said Johnson, “but we’re pretty much at full strength.”
In other news, directors also approved an increase to the school lunch program. Elementary lunch for students is going from $1.60 to $1.70, while adults will pay $3.25 instead of $3. Secondary lunch for students is now $2.10 for students, a 10-cent increase. Adults will pay $3.25, a 25-cent increase over last year. Breakfast at all schools is now $1.10 for students, a 10-cent increase, while adults will pay $1.50 rather than $1.40. Milk prices will remain the same at 50 cents for an 8-ounce container and 60 cents for a 10-ounce container.
Kathy Allen, director of the SAD 1 school nutrition program, said she recommended the increases because of the “steadily increasing cost of products.”
“The program has been able to maintain the current price for the last two years,” Allen told directors, “but we need to have an increase to keep up with our costs.
“Several of the surrounding schools are also making the recommendation to increase meals to help defray the cost of serving nutritious meals to our students,” she said.
The next SAD 1 board meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 12 in the board conference room at Presque Isle High School.