SAD 46 hires new teachers and transportation director

By Mike Lange
Staff Writer

    DEXTER — The School Administrative District 46 Board of Directors held its final meeting before the opening of the new school year and finalized some staff appointments at Ridge View Community School and the Tri-County Technical Center.

    Directors approved the hiring of Sharon Foster and Nadine Abbott as health occupation instructors at TCTC; Jeannine Reece as a grade 5-8 guidance counselor at RVCS; Anne Jordan as a reading recovery teacher leader at RVCS; Megan Braley, Stephanie Daigle and Katelyn Day as RVCS kindergarten teachers; and Catherine Strauch as the RVCS music teacher.
    Superintendent Kevin Jordan also announced that Bonnie Curtis of Detroit has been hired as the new transportation director succeeding Mike Keyte, who is retiring on Sept. 5.
    Jordan said he was extremely pleased to be able to hire Foster and Abbott due to their experience and familiarity with the district. “Many of you remember Sharon when she was school nurse many years ago,” Jordan said. “Nadine has a very similar resume, although not as much experience in a school setting. She also worked with Sharon at Mayo (Regional Hospital) for a time.”
    The superintendent also said that TCTC Director Patrick O’Neil “strongly supported” the nominees.
    Jordan noted that two of the new teachers at RVCS — Day and Strauch — are former SAD 46 students. “It’s always exciting when some of your great students graduate, get their (advanced) education and decide they want to come back,” he said.
    Strauch was also a member of the Abbott Hill Ramblers “and we’ve had a conversation about starting a program like that up again,” Jordan said.
    The Abbott Hill Ramblers was a bluegrass and American “roots” musical group consisting of junior high and high school students from SAD 46 that performed at fairs, festivals and coffee houses in central Maine from 2000-13.
    The new transportation director has worked for Cyr Transportation, the contractor that provides school bus service for SAD 53 in Pittsfield, Detroit and Burnham, Jordan said. “She has also started a couple of businesses on her own,” he said. “Plus, she has had some experience dealing with disciplinary issues on school buses.”
    Curtis was one of six applicants for the position and two went to the final interview.
    Curtis said that she was “definitely getting my feet wet. A lot of it is familiar territory and a lot of it is new. Mike (Keyte) made out a couple of lists for me that will really come in handy.”
    The board also heard an update on the water damage to the DRHS gymnasium due to a freak accident during a rainstorm. Jordan said that one of the gym roof drainpipes became clogged during a downpour “and created so much pressure that the metal cap blew out. Fortunately, some boys’ basketball players were in the gym and notified the custodial staff.”
    The water seeped into the flooring near the entrance to the boys’ locker rooms and warped the floorboards about six inches from the wall, said the superintendent. “If the boards don’t go back down, they’ll have to be replaced,” said Jordan. However, the insurance company doesn’t want to make a commitment for repairs for another 30 days.
    “When wood warps, it usually doesn’t un-warp,” he added.