SAD 46 board approves winter high school sports

DEXTER — Play will ultimately be decided by the Maine Principals’ Association, the state CDC and office of Gov. Janet Mills, but should the go-ahead continue to be given, then Dexter Regional High School will be having a modified winter sports season in 2020-21. 

The SAD 46 school board approved a recommendation by Superintendent Kevin Jordan to allow for the Tigers to take part based on MPA guidelines during a Dec. 2 meeting at the Ridge View Community School.

“This is the same question we came to you in September and asked,” Jordan said as Dexter took part in a fall high school sports season with athletes and coaches all adjusting for the pandemic. “Our belief is if they have the season it’ll just be like the fall season.”

“Wrestling is out of the question at this point — wrestling is a high contact sport,” Jordan said. The Tiger basketball and cheering teams will have modified seasons.

Like the fall, the basketball teams will compete in pods featuring about 10 games against only four or five schools from the region with no postseason other than a possible game or two to determine the top team among the group. “It certainly wasn’t perfect but I think in many ways it was better than nothing,” Jordan said about the fall season.

He said there will be no spectators in the gym, a 50-person limit of team and school personnel “and at this point they will be wearing masks all the time.” During the fall masks were not worn once the games started.

When asked her thoughts, student board representative Abigail Wakefield said, “If wearing a mask means I can play my senior year of basketball, I’ll get used to wearing it somehow.”

Dexter Principal Stephen Bell said the Tiger cheering squad will compete by submitting a video of the team’s routine to be judged.  

“If things went as scheduled, the way they are planning the 7th of December will be the start of a week of individual skills,” Bell said. A week later teams would start scrimmaging and the first games would be on Jan. 11 — these dates are subject to change.

In other business, the school board approved a recommendation by Jordan to switch Monday, Dec. 21, and Tuesday, Dec. 22, from days of classes to staff development days.

“As you heard from our administrators tonight, I want to echo that our staff has been amazing. They have to change on a daily basis,” Jordan said. He said the adjustments include going between remote and in-person methods of instruction.

“It’s people doing an outstanding job but with a lot of stress,” the superintendent said. “It’s certainly a unique time in education. People are doing a fantastic job but it’s wearing on people.”

Jordan said Dec. 21-22 would feature staff development days to plan for the new year, and also to thank them for their hard work. He said the time would “give them a few hours not to think about six in-class kids, seven remote kids and ‘what am I going to do this afternoon.’”

In his report, Bell said as of the previous Friday, Dexter Regional High School had 112 and 110 students in the two cohorts along with 73 students enrolled in remote-only learning. He said he expected the remote number to rise closer to 100, at least through the holidays following a week of remote-only learning for everyone from Nov. 30 to Dec. 4.

Tri-County Technical Center Director Brian Leavitt said there are 178 in-person students and 32 remote students [an approximate 85/15 percent split\. “Our ratio’s kind of low compared to other schools and that’s because they want to be there,” Leavitt said.

Jordan said late last month that he and members of the board’s facility committee met with representatives from SAD 4 of Guilford and the Milo-based SAD 41 for a kickoff session on a potential regional comprehensive high school project. Jordan said Maine Department of Education officials took part in the Zoom meeting to provide a summary and identify potential areas of struggle, such as what the facility governing body would look like and possible sites.

“They were very supportive and they said it will be a 100 percent state-supported project,” Jordan said. “Our next meeting will be Jan. 11 and we’ll keep you posted as we move along.”

Several years ago a comprehensive high school project application between SAD 46, SAD 4, SAD 41, Greenville and Jackman schools and Tri-County Technical Center — the application is non-binding for the participants — was ranked third on the state scoring list behind a pair of Aroostook County projects. 

The 145 points for the application trailed the 150 points for the proposed project in the Houlton area and surrounding school districts in southern Aroostook County, and the score of 160 points for a possible facility in the Fort Kent and Madawaska areas in northern Aroostook County.

During a meeting of the state board of education earlier in the fall, the decision was made to move the local project up to second and therefore allow a start to the planning process.

Under the Integrated, Consolidated [grade] 9-16 Educational Facility Pilot Project a regional comprehensive high school, or possibly two or even three schools, would be funded by the state with approximately ​$200 million set aside for the project. The facility is intended to serve as a model for the rest of Maine by encouraging neighboring school districts with declining enrollments to work together to combine resources and reduce costs.

The school would offer a variety of academic programs from high school to college — through the University of Maine and Maine Community College systems — and training and certifications in various industries via a number of business partnerships. Similar education models are used in other states.

Jordan concluded the evening by mentioning the following morning Ridge View Community School Assistant Principal Jessica Dyer would be formally recognized as the 2021 Maine Principals’ Association National Association of Elementary School Principals National Outstanding Assistant Principal of the Year.

“Most of you who know Jess, this should not be a surprise,” Jordan said. “She’s fantastic at her job and we’re really, really excited for her.”