Staff Writer
The Caribou Board of Education held its regular meeting last week during which time the committee members approved the proposed school budget for the 2008-09 school year. The panel also approved the 2008-09 Caribou Adult Education budget presented by Dan MacDonald, adult education director.
A presentation by Frank McElwain, superintendent of Caribou Schools, provided an in- depth comparison of costs and revenues from the 2007-2008 school year budget against the 2008-09 budget.
The board approved a budget of $15,465,943 which is $253,004 more than the 07-08 budget of $15,212,316., a 1.7 percent increase.
The next step in the education budget approval process will necessitate the Caribou City Council’s endorsement and in turn appear as a public referendum question authorizing the council’s decision. The new budget showed notable expense increases in areas of salaries, benefits, fuel oil, vehicle fuel and textbooks.
Other agenda topics approved included:
• Representatives from the Caribou High School and the University of Maine at Presque Isle provided the board with an update on the Partnership for college Success. Jen Quinlen spoke to the group on the success of the Transition Center at the high school, where students may refer themselves for academic assistance or they may be referred for tutoring by their teachers. To date, at the end of the third quarter, over 1,850 individual tutoring sessions have taken place.
The Partnership for College Success continues to support initiatives that help improve student achievement and promote college access and success, said Quinlan.
Instructor at the transition center, Robert Sprague told the board members, “The difference is these kids are not forced to be here (in a tutorial session), I encourage them to look 10 years down the road and see what they want to be doing with their lives.” Sprague compared the encouraging of a student to when planting a garden, “ sometimes if a seed gets planted in the soil, it will start to sprout and when it finally blooms, it is really something wonderful to see.”
• Changes to the technology curriculum at Caribou Middle School. Principal Susan White addressed the board members asking to consider reconstructing the computer classes at the middle school. White suggested that isolated computer classes be halted in grades 7and 8 and in turn allow the computer technology that is required for students entering high school be combined with their other curriculum classes. White said that computer tech/instructor would still educate the students but instead of doing so in a separate class, the necessary technology would be combined within another class. Through this process the students checklist of necessary items which must be completed by the end of the eighth grade would be more likely to be accomplished.
If this format were set up, White said the computer labs would be freed up for grades 5-6 instruction. “It opens up time for both the teachers and their students,” said White. Students will be able to fulfill their checklists and the computer instructor will be available wherever needed throughout the building.
Frank McElwain, Caribou superintendent congratulated White on approaching this subject within her building and added, “ Ten years ago we were just beginning to teach computers to our students and we as teachers were learning right along with them, now it is formalized and a very significant learning tool.” The education board approved the technology curriculum change.
The education board members also approved a revised job description for the director of the Performing Arts Center and were reminded of the retirement of current director Virginia White.
