HOULTON, Maine — With the end of the school year rapidly approaching, the RSU 29 school board has been busy filling positions for the 2018-19 year.
During Monday night’s regular monthly meeting, the board approved several new hires for the district. Melanie Blais was unanimously approved as the district’s new curriculum coordinator. She will replace Rae Bates who is retiring from the post after six years with the district.
Other new hires or transfers for the district were Nicole Lynds, Houlton Middle-High School secretary; Peggy McGary, Houlton Elementary School library aide; Corinne Nadeau, grade four resource teacher at Houlton Southside School; Christy Fraser, Life Skills teacher for HSS; Logan Winslow, evening custodian; and Jacqueline Rogers, grade four teacher at HSS.
The district is still searching for a new high school principal, following last month’s announcement that long-time principal Marty Bouchard was resigning to take a position in Kennebunk.
According to Superintendent Ellen Halliday, the district has been conducting interviews for the position and she hopes a candidate will be announced by July 1, which is the start of the new school calendar year.
In other agenda items, the board unanimously re-elected Fred Grant and Jim Quirk as chairman and vice chairman respectively. The board also approved raising the fee for hot lunch at Houlton Middle-High School to $2.90 as part of a required increase by the state.
The board will next gather on Wednesday, May 23, at 6 p.m. in the Houlton Middle-High School auditorium for the annual district budget meeting.
