Changes are coming to Wiscasset Middle High School’s athletic programs. Cameron Bishop, athletic director and assistant principal, told the school committee Tuesday, July 11, the Wolverine basketball program has moved to Class D for the 2023-2024 season.

“Because we’ve won less than 25% of our games the last four years, the MPA (Maine Principals Association) has allowed us to drop down from Class C to D,” said Bishop, adding WMHS has left the Mountain Valley Conference and joined the East /West Conference. Vinalhaven, Searsport, Islesboro, Buckfield, Richmond, Greenville, Carrabec and Rangeley are other high schools making up the conference, along with Valley in Bingham, Temple Academy in Waterville and Forest Hills in Jackman. Bishop said the Wolverines could have remained in the MVC as a Class D school. “That would have meant we would have had to play against primarily Class C high schools. Moving to the East/West Conference will allow us to play against schools with student enrollments closer to ours and hopefully make the games more competitive,” he explained. The Wolverines ended their season with a win over Vinalhaven last year ending a losing streak that stretched back to 2019.

Bishop attended the meeting by ZOOM. In a telephone interview with Wiscasset Newspaper afterwards, he said this fall the Wolverine soccer teams are moving to eight-player competition. Teams play on a smaller field with eight players instead of the traditional 11. Although there is no MPA conference, Bishop said 13 or 14 other high schools are also moving to eight-player soccer due to declining student numbers. Bishop added he is still looking for a high school boys’ soccer coach and also wants to hear from students interested in playing soccer this fall. On a related note, the high school’s new soccer scoreboard was set to be installed July 19 by Neokraft Signs, Inc. of Lewiston. The installation was postponed due to the recent wet weather.

The Wiscasset school system is losing one of its longest tenured teachers. Chris Hammond recently announced he was leaving. He taught at Wiscasset schools for over 20 years. The committee accepted Hammond’s resignation “with regret” and wished him well.

Committee member Desiree Bailey recalled she was a senior at the high school when Hammond first began teaching there. Before that, Hammond taught at the former Wiscasset Middle School on Federal Street, now the elementary school. For several seasons, Hammond coached the high school girls’ soccer team and also the tennis teams.

Gina Stevens, WMHS principal, told the committee summer school got off to a good start and had a combined 24 middle and high school students attending. She said she still needed to fill two teaching jobs for math and science. If the jobs have not been filled before the start of the school year,  Stevens said she would rely on qualified substitutes until they were filled. New window coverings have been installed in the high school library and classrooms as part of the school system’s recommended safety protocols, added Stevens.

Amy Bayha, the new elementary school principal, announced the hiring of Kim Green as the new kindergarten teacher. Green previously taught in the Lisbon area. Bayha noted work would begin soon on the installation of an elevator. Andrea Lovell, special education director, said her team was minus just one teacher and now included an in-house social worker.

At the start of the meeting, the committee re-elected Jason Putnam chairman and Desiree Bailey vice chair. Putnam introduced new Superintendent of Schools Kim Andersson and newly elected school committee member Victoria Hugo-Vidal. “We’re all excited about the coming school year and moving forward together with a lot of positivity,” said Putnam.