Student rep may return to the Greenville School Committee

By Mike Lange
Staff Writer

    GREENVILLE — For several years, the Greenville School Committee included a student representative in various capacities. Some attended meetings as part of a class assignment. Others were considered part of the committee and could engage in debate and discussion, but not vote. But for the past year, students have rarely attended meetings and there hasn’t been a formal policy implemented on student participation.

    At Monday’s Greenville School Committee meeting, Chairperson Ann Murray said she would like to see this changed. “I think it would be great to have a student representative on the board,” Murray said. “We should revisit the policy.”
    Committee member Rebecca Lee agreed, but said that they should also look into the reasons for the lack of participation in recent years. Superintendent Beth Lorigan said that “there were some problems with some student representatives a few years ago. At one time, however, two members of the high school student council attended on a regular basis.”
    Lorigan said that if the committee decided to add a student representative in any capacity, they should require them to familiarize themselves with board policies and procedures “just like a regular board member.” The board agreed to discuss a formal policy at the next committee meeting on Sept. 16, and decide what criteria would be needed for a student representative.
    After a short executive session to evaluate her performance, the committee voted to offer Principal Kelly MacFadyen a three-year contract. MacFadyen was hired in July 2012 after serving as a guidance counselor at Piscataquis Community High School in Guilford for eight years and at Mountain View Youth Development Center in Charleston for nearly two years.
    MacFadyen also updated the board on the Atlas Rubicon system for curriculum development, now being used in all grades at Greenville Consolidated School. The principal explained that the system “can be aligned to all different grade levels. One advantage is that you’re able to exchange information with schools from all over – not just in Maine, but the entire world.”
    Lorigan said that she’ll have a full report on the latest New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP) scores at next month’s board meeting, but said that they’re basically unchanged from the previous year. “We don’t see a tremendous amount of growth in the scores, but we don’t see any decreases, either,” said the superintendent.
    According to the Maine Department of Education, reading and math scores were basically flat statewide from grades 3-8 while writing scores declined slightly. The October 2013 NECAP test will be the finale for the program in northern New England as Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont will move to the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC), which measures the Common Core State Standards, in the 2014-15 school year.
    The “Kickoff to School” open house will be held Wednesday, Aug. 28 starting at 5 p.m. when parents and students are invited to meet their teachers and get familiar with their new class surroundings. Earlier this week, a group of volunteers organized by Janet Chasse cleaned and painted the industrial arts room and other areas of the school in preparation for the opening, Lorigan said.