SAD 41 looks to convert Marion C. Cook School into home of 3- to 5-year-old program

SAD 41 looks to convert Marion C. Cook School into home of 3- to 5-year-old program |

MILO — SAD 41 is looking to keep the Marion C. Cook School in LaGrange, turning the building into the home of a new program for 3- to 5-year-olds, should AOS 43 be dissolved with the Feb. 12 referendum vote.

An AOS 43 Plan of Termination between SAD 41 and SAD 31 of the Howland area is heading to a referendum in the SAD 41 towns of Brownville, LaGrange, and Milo on Wednesday. If passed, the AOS dissolution would take effect as of July 1. SAD 31 is also voting on the plan that day, and just one district needs to give its approval in order for the AOS to be dissolved.

The LaGrange Select Board sent a letter to SAD 41 Superintendent Darcie Fourunier inquiring about the future of the Marion C. Cook School, which is located in its town and currently is the home of the AOS 43 central office. The letter asked for the town to be given priority for control and future administration of the school building should it no longer be owned by the district, Fournier told the school board during a Feb. 5 meeting at the Penquis Valley School.

“I think with the withdrawal people are wondering what we are doing with the building,” she said. “When the withdrawal started, it was quite overwhelming with a lot of information and we thought that we would put a pause on this plan, but since then we have made some progress and so it’s a good time to update everybody publicly.”

“Our vision for MC Cook is to create the 3- to 5-year-old program and house that there,” Fournier said.

She said by the fall of 2027, Maine schools will be required to provide services to this full age group and not just pre-kindergarten. For SAD 41, the plan is to house it at the Marion C. Cook School. The district has applied to be part of a pilot cohort in order to qualify for grant funds to renovate the building. Building codes for a program geared to young children are being looked at and construction quotes will be sought.

Fournier said SAD 41 is awaiting word from the Maine Department of Education to see if it qualifies for the cohort. 

“If we do, that’s really great news. That means we will be able to apply for some grant funds for renovating that building,” she said.

The letter from LaGrange requested SAD 41 provide its building plan in writing and the school board gave Founier the go ahead to respond.

“Just a reminder referendum is Feb. 12 at your town office, please come out and vote,” she said. Voting hours on Wednesday will be from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Brownville, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Milo, and from noon to 7 p.m. in LaGrange.

In other business, administrators will present their budget needs at next month’s finance committee meeting and talk about requested increases and decreases as part of the 2025-26 budget process, Fournier said. She said if a principal requested an additional ed tech then the proposed increase will show this and so on.

“Things are going to change a little bit. We are going to use our finance committee meetings that happen right before our board meetings so please come if you want to learn more about the budget and have input about the capital improvement projects part of that budget,” the superintendent said, with this being part of the session scheduled for Wednesday, March 5.

Brownville Elementary School Principal Carol Smith said fourth-graders are working with the Piscataquis County Soil and Water Conservation District on the “Trout in the Classroom” program.

Late last month, the PCSWCD set up tanks in the school with the first lesson teaching students about river habitat, what can be found in these bodies of water and how living things are connected. 

The fourth-graders will watch the trout grow from eggs over the next few months and then see the fish be released into an area river during the spring.