HOULTON, Maine — When is the right time to abstain from voting? That was the question posed to members of the RSU 29 school board during Monday evening’s regular monthly meeting.
Superintendent Mike Hammer brought up the issue of abstentions to try to clarify what types of scenarios there are for abstaining from votes.
“I wanted to bring this up because I felt at a loss of not knowing how to better direct you,” Hammer said. “We had a couple of tough votes and had some abstentions. When we come down to a vote, the fewer abstentions we have the better.”
According to the board’s policy on abstentions, the only time a board member should abstain is when they have “a direct or indirect pecuniary interest in the matter or ethical reason why you are not voting.”
“A conflict of interest is really the only time we should be using abstentions,” Hammer said. “If you don’t feel confident or don’t have enough information, vote it down for that reason.”
In other business, Hammer informed the board that the transfer of items from Wellington Elementary School to Houlton Elementary was nearly complete, with about “a half a truck” load yet to be transferred. Once all of the items have been removed, Hammer said he would conduct a final walk through the building and was scheduled to meet with Monticello town officials Tuesday morning.
He anticipated the district would deed the property back to the town in the near future.
The relocation of sixth-grade classrooms from Houlton Southside School to Houlton High School is ongoing, Hammer said.
“This has not been your typical summer,” he said. “We feel 95 percent of that move has been done, but we need to continue to do all the things we would normally have to do in the summer.”
In other agenda items, the board:
• Accepted the resignation of board member John Tribou. Tribou, whose term expires in November, is no longer a resident of Houlton.
• Learned the superintendent hired Hannah Woodruff as a grade 9-12 math teacher and Heather Fagnant as a gifted and talented instructor.
• Discussed the district’s graduation requirements policy.
The next meeting of the RSU 29 school board is Monday, Aug. 4 at 6 p.m. in the Houlton High School Library.