RSU 68 officials moving forward with building purchase to house superintendent’s office

CHARLESTON — The RSU 68 superintendent’s office will be relocated from the second floor of the SeDoMoCha School complex to a former Head Start building off of Autumn Avenue next to campus, as a $38,000 offer on the property was accepted by the owners of the structure. The move will be made to help deal with space issues.

“We have a closing date of Oct. 11 at 4:30 p.m.,” Superintendent Stacy Shorey said during an Oct. 3 school board meeting at the Charleston Community Center.

During a special board meeting on Sept. 25 the directors accepted a counteroffer of $38,000, after Shorey had been authorized to ask $36,000 for the building. The former Head Start building was listed through Mallett Real Estate of Dover-Foxcroft for $50,000. The 1,650 square foot one-story structure was built in 1950 and is on 0.4 acres.

“The roof is the next piece that needs to be done,” Shorey said. Members of the school board’s buildings and grounds committee had toured the structure and they noted the need to replace the roof prior to the directors making any offers.

A motion was passed to put a new roof on the building, and the buildings and grounds committee will determine if the new structure top is going to be asphalt or steel.

“We have that sitting in our maintenance fund,” Shorey said, as about $75,000 is left over from monies earmarked for paving. She said the board’s next meeting would be Nov. 7 and a decision during the October session would expedite the process.

Shorey had previously said storage is the biggest current issue at the SeDoMoCha School, and moving the office space for her and several other district employees would help remedy the situation.

In other business, Shorey said the 2017 summer meals program saw a sharp increase in participation from the year before with 2,806 meals served in 2016 and 4,675 meals served this year.

“It was extremely successful and they worked very hard and did a great job,” she said about all those involved with the summer meals program.

Breakfast and lunch were available weekdays at the school free of charge to all children under the age of 18 Lunch was also served through RSU 68 across town at the Piscataquis Regional YMCA and in Milo at the Derby Community Center.

Summer meals program expenses are reimbursed to the district through state funds, based on free and reduced lunch percentages. RSU 68 has about 55 percent of its students eligible for free or reduced lunch or right at the threshold to be eligible for state reimbursement.