SAD 4 hires special education director

GUILFORD — Nicki Greene will be the director of special education in SAD 4 for the 2018-19 academic year, after her nomination was approved by the school board during a June 12 meeting. Greene’s salary will be $60,000.

“I live in the area and I have two kiddos myself,” Greene said. “I have been working in special education in one capacity or another for about 15 years now.” Greene said she has been an ed tech, a teacher, managed IEPs and been a case manager for a special education consultant.

In other business, approved the use of the necessary funds from the current school year budget to have the campus fields and grounds treated for grubs and ticks.

“I assume you have seen our grass, I guarantee if you kick a clump you will see some grubs come out,” Interim Superintendent Raymond Freve said. “We have asked a company to come in that’s properly licensed,” he said, adding that in addition to treating the grubs the area will be sprayed for ticks for a $7,500 estimate.

Freve said the PCHS baseball field is owned by the town, but about 90 percent of the playing area’s use is by the Pirate teams. The diamond would also be sprayed for grubs and ticks and “we would reseed it, we would take care of it.”

The superintendent said the town would help with the work to get the baseball field in shape. This project estimate is $7,700.

Freve also said, “I was mesmerized when I saw a photo of the Greenville High School graduates.” He explained that the photo from the high school contained 23 students.

“How many did we have?,” he asked about the PCHS commencement. Freve was told the school had 33 members in the Class of 2018 with 31 taking part in the graduation ceremony.

“You will need some dialogue, you have got to look at the future and what you are going to do,” Freve said.

He passed out an enrollment sheet indicating in October PCHS had 149 students. The year before — in 2016-17 grades 7-8 were up at the high school — the pupil count was 221 for grades 7-12. The year saw a 72-student drop, 34 percent.

The sheet said in 2018 the total enrollment for pre-kindergarten through grade 12 was 543. About two decades the K-12 count was 959. The drop-off was not as steep compared to previous decades, with enrollments of 1,097 in 1981 and 1,055 in 1972.

The June 12 session was the last for Freve in SAD 4. “We’re switching as of July 1,” he said, after having served in an interim capacity over the previous year.

Freve will be succeeded by Kelly MacFadyen, who is finishing up her sixth year as principal of the Greenville Consolidated School and before then spent eight years as director of guidance at PCHS.

In April MacFadyen was hired by the school board for a period of two years. MacFadyen’s contract will have a salary of $95,000 for the first year and the second year may change from $95,000.