RSU 23 board delays school start to Sept. 8, approves harassment and Title IX policies and certifies budget vote

The Regional School Unit No. 23 (RSU 23) board voted July 16 to delay the start of the 2020-21 school year to Tuesday, Sept. 8, approved a package of harassment and Title IX-related policies, certified the results of the district budget validation referendum and approved several student-support job descriptions.

Superintendent John Suttie, who welcomed Kate Hersom as the new principal at Jameson Elementary, said the district is preparing to return students to school under guidance from the Centers for Disease Control, the Maine Education Association and the state Department of Education and is using a three-color "stoplight" framework (red=remote, yellow=hybrid, green=in-person). "We are making preparations for students to come in but be aware we may have to revert back to remote learning if we have community transmission," Suttie said, and he told families the district will post a final reopening plan on Aug. 7.

The board amended the agenda to consider changing the calendar and then approved the start-date change on a motion by Michelle Violette, seconded by Sally Beatty. The motion passed unanimously.

On policy business, Peter Flaherty read first readings of multiple policies; the board voted unanimously to adopt policies ACAA (Harassment & Sexual Harassment of Students), ACAB (Harassment & Sexual Harassment of School Employees), ACAB-R (Employee Discrimination/Harassment & Title IX Sexual Harassment Complaint Procedures), ACAA-R (Student Discrimination/Harassment & Title IX Sexual Harassment Complaint Procedures) and AC (Nondiscrimination/Equal Opportunity & Affirmative Action). The board earlier voted to waive policy BG-R so those policies could be adopted at the same meeting.

The board tabled consideration of a job description for a Title IX coordinator. Separately, it approved job descriptions for a set of student-support positionsincluding social worker, speech pathologist, school psychologist, physical therapist, occupational therapist, instructional strategist, board-certified behavior analyst, speech therapist, and a district technology integrator & support specialiston a 4-1 vote (roll call listed Christopher LaSalle, Sally Beatty, Peter Flaherty and Dave Boudreau). The minutes do not identify the individual dissenting vote by name.

The board certified the computation and declaration of votes from the RSU 23 budget validation referendum and ordered the certified copy sent to municipal clerks. The minutes recorded the referendum totals as: Article 1: Yes 1,574, No 397; Article 2: Yes 1,391, No 463; Article 3: Yes 1,484, No 366; Article 4: Yes 1,590, No 253.

Committee reports noted a finance carryover pending final accounting, a pending building committee review of possible water mitigation at Jameson Elementary, and no summer meetings for the technology committee. Board members offered public thanks to administrators, teachers and voters for passing the budget and acknowledged the difficulty of planning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Chair Dave Boudreau said, "The number one thing we will be working towards is the safety of our kids and our family at RSU 23," and said the district will continue to hold meetings online "until further notice."

The board adjourned at 7:03 p.m. after a motion from Christopher LaSalle and a second from Michelle Violette. Next publicly announced steps include the superintendentan Aug. 7 deadline for the final reopening plan and ongoing health-and-safety protocol development with staff and association leaders.