Wiscasset School Committee

State to pick up more of Wiscasset’s education tab

Committee keeps chairman, changes vice chairman
Mon, 08/03/2015 - 6:00am

    The state’s July figures have it picking up $108,000 more of Wiscasset’s education tab than projected, Superintendent of Schools Heather Wilmot said July 30.

    The budget that Wiscasset voters approved in June for the town’s schools included that $108,000 as part of what would have to be raised in taxes, Wilmot said. The figure was based on numbers the state provided back in May.

    The state’s revised figures came in at $1,426,039 as the state’s share, compared to $1,317,968 in May; and $3,557,691 as the local share, compared to $3,665,762, Wilmot said.

    “I think it’s wonderful,” Wiscasset Selectmen’s Vice Chairman Judy Flanagan said in an interview after the school committee meeting in the Wiscasset High School library. The municipal and school departments will probably need to discuss how to address the $108,000 that residents agreed to fund as part of the budget, she said.

    Depending on state laws on school funding, lowering the amount that residents approved in June might require a special town meeting vote, Flanagan said.

    More good money news

    The $300,000 in carryover funds that the school committee built into the school budget came through, Chairman Steve Smith said. The figures that factored into the estimate bore out, he said.

    Progress on transition

    Wilmot commended Maintenance and Transportation Director John Merry and his support staff on the move of the primary school grades into Wiscasset Elementary School and grades seven and eight into Wiscasset Middle High School.

    The school department has paid Bisson Moving and Storage a $13,000 deposit; another $27,308 remains to be paid, but that figure could change, Wilmot said.

    The department and Wiscasset Police Chief Troy Cline are working on traffic flow at Wiscasset Elementary. “We’re looking at this from multiple angles to keep all of our children safe,” Wilmot said.

    The track at Wiscasset Middle High is back open after a respraying; and the basketball hoops at Wiscasset Elementary have been taken down as the court is converted to parking; plans call for the hoops to move to the tennis court, the superintendent said.

    Committee picks leaders

    In a pair of votes that each ran 4-0 with outgoing vice chairman Glen Craig abstaining, the school committee kept Smith as chairman and made Eugene Stover vice chairman.

    Stover then took a moment to praise Smith’s efforts as chairman. “He has worked his head off, he has run his feet off (and) taken time off from his own profession ... I think he should be commended,” Stover said.

    New assistant principal named

    Nathan Stubbert, an alternative education teacher at Wiscasset High for the past two years, has been named assistant principal for Wiscasset Middle High. Stubbert is also the new athletic director for grades 9 through 12 and will still teach half-time in alternative education.

    Stubbert, of Waterville, has a bachelor’s degree in sports management from New Hampshire College in Manchester, N.H. and a master’s in educational leadership from Thomas College in Waterville; did an administrative internship at Wiscasset High; and for years was a promoter for the entertainer Gallagher.

    Former athletic director and assistant principal Sarah Ricker has said she was not reappointed to a third year.