By Lisa Wilcox
Staff Writer
NEW SWEDEN — A letter of retirement from New Sweden School’s secretary Kitty Doar was regretfully accepted at the School Board meeting held on Dec. 6.
Doar thanked the board for the years of employment, and School Union 122 Interim Superintendent Roland Caron thanked Doar in return, acknowledging that she will be greatly missed by all. The board discussed the terms of Doar’s retirement in an executive session.
During the meeting, the board also reviewed Maine School Management Association policies regarding family care leave, a curriculum development and adoption process and student restraint and seclusion, approving a second reading of each policy.
A discussion was held regarding parental personal use of laptops that are provided to students by the state. Currently parents are provided with the option to create their own login on the laptops and the state does allow personal use for things like searching for employment or research; however, schools across the state are encountering issues with inappropriate use of the Internet.
The board did not make a clear decision as to whether parents should be allowed to use their children’s laptops for personal use, but members of the board voiced their concerns regarding the possibility of inappropriate sites being viewed and the use of social media sites.
Ernie Easter, the 7th- and 8th-grade teacher at New Sweden School, explained his role as administrator and the monitoring system that is in place to ensure the laptops are being used appropriately when not on school premises.
New Sweden School Principal Laurie Spooner was present at the meeting to offer her monthly report. Spooner spoke about an exciting basketball game held earlier in the day between New Sweden and Van Buren, where VB won by one point. Spooner also advised that Children’s Stage Adventures would be coming to New Sweden in January to help the students with a production of “The Princess and the Pea.” The school has to decide whether the performance will be held at the school or at the Caribou Performing Arts Center if that facility is available.
Spooner also expressed how impressed she was with the school’s recent science fair and advised that the school passed a health inspection that was just conducted with only one minor adjustment involving insulation on a pipe needing to be made.
The next New Sweden School Board meeting will be Jan. 3 at 6:30 p.m. at the New Sweden School.
