Regional School Unit 25 Bucksport, Orland, Prospect, & Verona Island

2016-2017 PROPOSED BUDGET

District Budget Meeting May 25, 2016 Bucksport Middle School 7:00 PM Budget Validation Vote June 14, 2016

Our Mission “To provide a rigorous and inspiring education in partnership with our community”

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REGIONAL SCHOOL UNIT 25 BUCKSPORT, ORLAND, PROSPECT AND VERONA ISLAND BUDGET REPORT 2016-2017 2016-2017 Proposed RSU 25 Budget

Message from RSU 25 School Board Chair- Melinda Stegner On May 25, 2016 at 7:00 PM the RSU 25 School Board will present our proposed budget at the annual district budget meeting. The 2016-2017 proposed budget of $14,020,586 represents a 1.52% increase ($210,197) relative to the prior year’s budget. I invite the citizens of Bucksport, Orland, Prospect, & Verona Island to participate in both the District budget meeting and the validation referendum. Thanks to the support of the communities, we continue to improve our programming and update our curricula to meet the expectations of Maine law. Next year we will introduce a new reading curriculum at the elementary level, reintroduce foreign language instruction at the middle school level, and at the high school level the students will have expanded opportunities to participate in robotics and pre-engineering classes. Your support of this budget will allow us to move forward with these exciting changes along with expanding the student’s access to technology. The school board is pleased with the progress of our educational opportunities as we continue to offer programming that will prepare our students for their future. Not only are our students provided a solid foundation at the elementary level (PK-8), they have programming at the high school level that will prepare them for postsecondary education as well as vocational training. We are able to provide this comprehensive educational program that meets the expectations of Maine statutes, while maintaining our costs below the State average per pupil expenditure levels. I encourage you to participate in the district budget adoption process and support the budget as presented to you by the school board. School Board Adopted Budget 05/16/16 Cost Center Summary Budget

Regular Education Special Education Career and Technical Education Other Instruction Student and Staff Support System Administration School Administration Transportation and Buses Facilities and Maintenance Debt Service All Other Expenditures Summary of General Fund Expenditures

Amount Recommended by School Board

$ 5,246,562 $ 2,474,603 $ 312,768 $ 430,128 $ 1,219,643 $ 409,445 $ 699,610 $ 1,011,304 $ 1,429,975 $ 736,548 $ 50,000 $ 14,020,586

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RSU 25 District Budget Meeting Warrant Articles The District Budget meeting is a required element of the Regional School Unit budget process. Once the School Board adopts a proposed budget it is presented to the voters of the district in a format similar to a Town meeting. Once a moderator is elected, the voters will proceed through a series of articles on which they are asked to take action. Each of the articles are outlined below with a short explanation for each of the articles. ARTICLE 1: To see what sum the Regional School Unit will be authorized to expend for Regular Instruction. School Board Recommends $5,246,562

37.42% of Total Budget

The regular education cost center supports general classroom instruction and for the upcoming year we are projecting RSU 25 will support 1065 students. The increases in this cost center are associated with the Governor’s proposed budget requirement that a portion of teacher retirement now be paid locally, plus contractual obligations, and health insurance increases. ARTICLE 2: To see what sum the Regional School Unit will be authorized to expend for Special Education. School Board Recommends $2,474,603

17.65% of Total Budget

The special education cost center supports students who are eligible for required support services. The increase in this cost center is associated with the impact associated with the Governor’s proposed budget requirement that a portion of teacher retirement now be paid locally, plus contractual obligations, health insurance increases, and the cost of high need students. ARTICLE 3: To see what sum the Regional School Unit will be authorized to expend for Career and Technical Education. School Board Recommends $312,768

2.23% of Total Budget

The monies in this cost center support the cost of students attending Hancock County Technical Center. Next year we will continue to offer two sections of welding at Bucksport High School. This arrangement allows us to offer quality CTE programming at Bucksport High School and receive tuition money for students from other Hancock County high schools who attend the program. We average between 45-50 students per year participating in course work offered through the CTE program. ARTICLE 4: To see what sum the Regional School Unit will be authorized to expend for Other Instruction. School Board Recommends $430,128

3.07% of Total Budget

The Other Instruction cost center includes the cost of summer school, co-curricular and extra curricular programming. ARTICLE 5: To see what sum the Regional School Unit will be authorized to expend for Student and Staff Support. School Board Recommends $1,219,643

8.70% of Total Budget

This section of the budget includes all costs identified as support services for the educational programming. Included costs are the library, health services, guidance, technology, and improvement of instruction. ARTICLE 6: To see what sum the Regional School Unit will be authorized to expend for System Administration. School Board Recommends $409,445

2.92% of Total Budget

Costs included in this section are all expenses associated with the School Board and the central office functions. ARTICLE 7: To see what sum the Regional School Unit will be authorized to expend for School Administration. School Board Recommends $699,610

4.99% of Total Budget

Costs associated with this section of the budget are inclusive of the administrative offices for each of the buildings.

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ARTICLE 8: To see what sum the Regional School Unit will be authorized to expend for Transportation and Buses. School Board Recommends $1,011,304

7.21% of Total Budget

The costs located in this cost center are connected with the cost of transportation which for RSU 25 is provided as a contracted service. As a regional school district we are required to provide transportation services.

ARTICLE 9: To see what sum the Regional School Unit will be authorized to expend for Facilities Maintenance. School Board Recommends $1,429,975

10.20% of Total Budget

This cost center contains the expenses for all of our building operations and maintenance expense. ARTICLE 10: To see what sum the Regional School Unit will be authorized to expend for Debt Service and Other

Commitments. School Board Recommends $736,548

5.25% of Total Budget

The debt service portion of this budget includes the associated debt for the State approved construction projects at the High School and Middle School as well as smaller voter approved projects. ARTICLE 11: To see what sum the Regional School Unit will be authorized to expend for All Other Expenditures. School Board Recommends $50,000

.36% of Total Budget

The monies associated with this cost center are used to support the cost of running the RSU 25 school based food service program. ARTICLES 12 THROUGH 14 RAISE FUNDS FOR THE PROPOSED SCHOOL BUDGET ARTICLE 12: To see what sum the Regional School Unit will appropriate for the total cost of funding public education from kindergarten to grade 12 as described in the Essential Programs and Services Funding Act and to see what sum the Regional School Unit will raise and assess as each municipality’s contribution to the total cost of funding public education from kindergarten to grade 12 as described in the Essential Programs and Services Funding Act in accordance with the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 20-A, section 15688. Recommended amounts set forth below:

Total Appropriated (by municipality): Town of Bucksport: $7,471,171.69 Town of Orland: $2,826,491.42 Town of Prospect: $ 1,009,413.92 Town of Verona Island: $ 532,997.71 Regional School Unit Total Appropriated (Sum of above) $11,840,074.74

Total raised (and Regional School Unit assessments by municipality): Town of Bucksport: $3,569,276.66 Town of Orland: $1,839,003.33 Town of Prospect: $ 387,333.33 Town of Verona Island: $ 428,141.67 Regional School Unit Total Raised: (Sum of above) $6,223,754.99

Explanation: The Regional School Unit’s contribution to the total cost of funding public education from kindergarten to grade 12 as described in the Essential Programs and Services Funding Act is the amount of money determined by state law to be the minimum amount that the Regional School Unit must raise and assess in order to receive the full amount of state dollars.

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ARTICLE 13: To see what sum the Regional School Unit will raise and appropriate for the annual payments on debt service previously approved by the Regional School Unit voters for non-state-funded school construction projects and non-statefunded portions of school construction projects in addition to the funds appropriated as the local share of the Regional School Unit’s contribution to the total cost of funding public education from kindergarten to grade 12. School Board Recommends $ 212,773 Non-state-funded debt service is the amount of money needed for the annual payments on the Regional School Unit’s longterm debt for major capital school construction projects that are not approved for state subsidy. The bonding of this longterm debt was previously approved by the Regional School Unit voters. ARTICLE 14: (Written ballot required). To see what sum the Regional School Unit will raise and appropriate in additional local funds (Recommend $726,061.35), which exceeds the State’s Essential Programs and Services allocation model by (Recommend $435,569.31) as required to fund the budget recommended by the School Board. The School Board recommends $726,061.35 for additional local funds and gives the following reasons for exceeding the State’s Essential Programs and Services funding model by $435,569.31: This amount is needed to cover costs of Regional School Unit schools that the state’s funding model does not recognize including the following: 1) costs of special education programming, 2) costs of extra-curricular and co-curricular programs, 3) transportation costs, 4) food service costs and local debt. Also, the State’s funding model recognizes costs of larger, more urban school districts to a greater degree than our schools. Bucksport $ 430,118.74 Orland $ 175,852.06 Prospect $ 54,962.84 Verona Island $ 42,111.56 ARTICLE 15 SUMMARIZES THE PROPOSED SCHOOL BUDGET ARTICLE 15: To see what sum the Regional School Unit will authorize the School Board to expend for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2016 and ending June 30, 2017 from the Regional School Unit’s contribution to the total cost of funding public education from kindergarten to grade 12 as described in the Essential Programs and Services Funding Act, non-statefunded school construction projects, additional local funds for school purposes under the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 20-A, section 15690, unexpended balances, tuition receipts, state subsidy and other receipts for the support of schools. School Board Recommends $14,020,586.00 ARTICLE 16 AUTHORIZES EXPENDITURE OF GRANTS AND OTHER RECEIPTS ARTICLE 16: In addition to amounts approved in the preceding articles, shall the School Board be authorized to expend such other sums as may be received from federal or state grants or programs or other sources during the fiscal year for school purposes, provided that such grants, programs or other sources do not require the expenditure of other funds not previously appropriated? ARTICLE 17 AUTHORIZES THE ADULT EDUCATION PROGRAM AND RAISES THE LOCAL SHARE ARTICLE 17: To see if Regional School Unit No. 25 will appropriate $201,010 for adult education and raise $87,500 as the local share; with authorization to expend any additional, incidental, or miscellaneous receipts in the interest and for the wellbeing of the adult education program. Local support for Adult Education is $87,500 with the remainder of the budget provided from the State of Maine and self generated revenues from program fees. This program supports adult learners in acquiring high school completion programming, HiSET® programming, college course work, driver education, and enrichment activities. ARTICLE 18 AUTHORIZES A TRANSFER TO AND EXPENDITURE FROM THE CAPITAL RESERVE FUND ARTICLE 18: Shall the School Board be authorized to transfer up to $200,000.00 from unexpended balances at the end of the 2015-2016 fiscal year to the School Capital Reserve Fund and to expend up to $525,000 from said reserve fund for: 1) Roofing project at Bucksport High School ($250,000) 2) Reconstruction and resurfacing the outdoor track ($220,000) 3) Replace and upgrade the phone system at Bucksport High School and the Central Office ($55,000) Currently the capital reserve account has a balance of $696,445 and the monies in this account are targeted for minor capital projects. In the past, voters have approved expenditures from this fund to pay for the Miles Lane Roof (2015) and the Miles

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Lane Playground (2015). Projects presented for consideration have received the support of the Facilities Sub-Committee and the RSU 25 School Board. ARTICLE 19 TRANSFERS AVAILABLE FUND BALANCES TO THE FUEL COST STABILIZATION FUND ARTICLE 19: Shall the School Board be authorized to transfer up to $50,000.00 to the fuel cost stabilization fund from year end available fund balances? Statutory Disclosure Statement relating to Fuel Cost Stabilization Fund: The fuel cost stabilization fund balance is currently $30,000.00. If this article is approved as written, the fuel cost stabilization fund balance will be $80,000.00. The amount used from the fuel cost stabilization fund in the last three years through the date this article was prepared is as follows: Fiscal year 2012-2013: $45,000 Fiscal year 2013-2014: $45,000 Fiscal year 2014-2015: to date $0 Fiscal year 2015-2016: to date $0 The fuel stabilization account has a current balance of $30,000 based on our FY 2014 audit. In 2014 the Board authorized the expenditure of $45,000 from the reserve to cover the sharp increase in the price of natural gas which had exceeded budgeted amounts. ARTICLE 20 AUTHORIZES A SPECIAL EDUCATION RESERVE FUND ARTICLE 20: Shall the School Board be authorized (1) to transfer up to $100,000.00 in unallocated fund balances to the Special Education Reserve Fund; and (2) to expend amounts in the reserve fund in any year that the Regional School Unit may incur unexpected high cost special education expenses that exceed amounts appropriated in the school operation budget for that year? ARTICLE 21 AUTHORIZE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A TECHNOLOGY RESERVE, THE FUNDING OF THE RESERVE FROM UNALLOCATED BALANCE FORWARD, AND THE EXPENDITURE OF FUNDS ARTICLE 21: Shall the Board be authorized to (1) establish a technology reserve fund, pursuant to 20-A M.R.S. § 1491 (2) transfer up to $100,000 from unallocated fund balances to that fund, (3) expend up to $81,000 to fund the purchase of classroom technology? The establishment of a technology reserve will allow the School Board to use unallocated balance forward monies to fund significant investment into technology without increasing the bottom line of the school budget. Monies are available to seed the reserve from unanticipated return of funds. This purchase supports the districts technology plan to provide computers for the fifth and sixth grades as well as expand computer access in grades one through four. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Five Year Budget Profiles: Cost Center Regular Instruction Special Education District CTE Instruction Other Instruction Student & Staff Support System Administration School Administration Transportation Services Facilities and Maintenance Debt Service Fund Transfer

Total

2016-2017

2015-2016

2013-2014

2012-2013

$5,246,562 $2,474,603

$5,134,209 $2,525,009

2014-2015

$5,138,590 $2,530,795

$5,023,065 $2,524,163

$4,947,673 $2,356,529

$312,768 $430,128

$275,249 $428,136

$269,958 $442,211

$260,872 $436,536

$248,879 $425,233

$1,219,643 $409,445

$1,134,324 $412,691

$1,147,643 $413,807

$1,111,457 $414,963

$1,100,480 $435,566

699,610 $1,011,304

$672,727 $1,025,541

$618,945 $1,006,978

$605,544 $986,008

$565,806 $964,696

$1,429,975 $736,548

$1,391,237 $761,266

$1,433,515 $889,619

$1,463,458 $725,064

$1,485,982 $708,880

$50,000 $14,020,586

$50,000 $13,810,389

$40,000 $13,932,061

$40,000 $13,591,130

$40,000 13,279,724

87,500

$87,155

$87,155

$83,005

$106,005

Adult Education (amount raised locally)

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Elements to General Purpose Aid (EPS Calculations) Students Mill Rate Valuation State GPA Local Share EPS Funding

2016-2017 1064.5 8.30 $749,850,000 $5,616,319 $6,223,755

2015-2016 1074 8.48 1,000,100,000 3,434,384.08 8,480,848.00

2014-2015 1090 8.10 $1,007,725,000 $3,594,530.20 $8,162,572.50

2013-2014 1125 7.86 $1,010,900,000 $3,629,819.24 $7,945,674.00

2012-2013 1134 7.69 $1,030,900,000 $3,730,650.77 $7,927,621.00

$11,840,074.75

11,915,232.08

$11,757,102.70

$11,828,218.24

$11,658,271.77

This year RSU 25 saw a significant increase in general purpose aid to education because of the sudden and severe loss of valuation associated with the closing of the Verso Paper Mill in Bucksport. Per Pupil Costs Remain Lower than State & County Average RSU 25 continues to operate our school system below the State of Maine average per pupil cost while providing a full range of educational services. Based on the latest data available from the Maine Department of Education for the fiscal year 2015, RSU 25 is operating below the State average per pupil expenditures and remains low compared to other Hancock County Schools. State Average Per Pupil Expenditure Rate - $10,990.51 RSU 25 Per Pupil Expenditure Rate - $10,493.04

The 2015 tuition rates, as established by the Department of Education, are also below the State Average for both the high school and the elementary schools. STATE RSU 25 High School Tuition Rate $ 10,131 $ 9,635 Elementary Tuition Rate $ 8,215 $ 7,099

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Essential Programs and Services Funding Model Staffing Comparison & EPS Student Count Fiscal Year 2016 The essential programs and services model is used as a distribution model for state general purpose aid and is built using a number of factors including a proportional staffing formula. Since RSU 25 consolidation the school board and administration have worked to align the staffing in the district to come as close as possible to the EPS recommended staffing levels, while still maintaining the integrity of the educational programming. The chart below represents a comparison the 2016 recommended staffing levels to the actual proposed staffing levels. However, the EPS formula uses 950 hours per year as the indicator for full time hourly employees. As such this skews the FTE equivalents in relationship to RSU 25’s calculation of full time employment for hourly employees. Over the past five years the School Board and administration have worked to reduce the staffing through attrition and unfortunately through direct reductions in force with the goal of providing an educational program that meets the expectations of the Maine Learning Results and operates efficiently. Since 2010 there has been a reduction of 40 full time equivalent positions. In the same time frame we have seen a reduction of 109 students. Also, during this time frame we have seen a steady improvement in our district scores on the State of Maine assessment test at the elementary, middle school, and high school levels. PK - 5 Teachers Guidance Librarian Health Ed Techs Lib Techs Clerical School Adm

17:1 315:1 720:1 720:1 90:1 450:1 180:1 275:1

(32.1) (.7) (.8) (.8) (6.1) (1.2) (3.0) (2.0)

6-8 16:1 315:1 720:1 720:1 90:1 450:1 180:1 275:1

9-12 (14.5) (1.4) (.3) (.3) (2.6) (.5) (1.3) (.8 )

15:1 225:1 720:1 720:1 225:1 450:1 180:1 275:1

(20.6) (1.4) (.4) (.4) (6.1) (.7) (1.7) (1.1)

EPS

Budgeted

Fiscal Year

EPS Student Count

66.4 3.8 1.4 1.4 9.8 2.4 6.0 3.9

69.4 5 1 2.6 5 2 8.0 3.8

FY 2010 FY 2011 FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014 FY 2015 FY 2016

1183 1171 1153 1134 1125 1090 1074

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Highlights and Information from our Schools and Programs Bucksport High School- Bill Tracy, Principal Community Involvement We have made it a point of emphasis to get our students into the community to help in any way they can. One of the events we started this year was a “Freshman Day of Service”. All 85 freshman students stepped into the community, with their teachers, and provided 6 hours of support across the district. Our groups worked in the following areas: Seaboard Federal Credit Union, Orland Community Center, Fort Knox, Bucksport Garden Club, Prospect Fire Department and Great Pond Mountain Conservation Trust. Every BHS student wore a t-shirt designed by one of our gifted artists, Caitlin Noonan, and sponsored by Seaboard Federal Credit Union. We are so thankful for the community organizations that allowed us this great learning experience and we hope to make this an annual event.

BARR Teams at Work We currently have 3 BARR teams of teachers at work on behalf of students; our freshman, sophomore and junior teams meet 3 times a week to discuss student progress. They base their conversations around course performance, attendance, academic & behavioral data. The interventions they use to help students are tracked throughout the course of the year and decisions about scheduling, course options and academic assistance are made based on that real time data. These teams continue to be part of the greater picture and bonded with the BARR Center, which represents public schools from Maine to California. This cohort of BARR (Building Assets, Reducing Risks) schools has been expanding with the help of the founders and schools like BHS who were in the initial trial grant. This Innovation/i3 grant has allowed us to be in conversations with other great schools across our country. Being named a “National BARR School of Academic Excellence” has enabled us to host visitors from over 20 schools in Maine and school leaders in Minnesota, Kentucky, California and points in between to see the work we are doing with our students. There is no greater time to be a student at Bucksport High School!

Opportunities & Aspirations College Visits We are very excited to announce that we have become part of the MELMAC family which provides us resources and guidance to help raise student aspirations. These resources have allowed us to take all sophomore students on a visit of 2 college campuses this spring. We had the support to plan the visits for students who were looking at specific 2 and 4 year college programs. One section of students visited UMaine, touring the Engineering section of campus with the Manufacturing/Composites Center & Innovation Center and Husson University to look at their specific programs and offerings. The other section of students visited EMCC and UMA,to see many of the Associate Degree programs that they offer. It is absolutely vital that we gained the students voice in choosing the programs they wanted to explore. The feedback we heard from them was all positive and it opened their eyes to the possibilities for their future.

Career Day One of the other events we planned with our BHS MELMAC College Access team was a Career Day we hosted at Bucksport High School. We had 50+ local presenters come in to speak about their jobs, the path they took to get there, including education, experiences and work habits necessary. Hearing from people in the field who were able to share their personal stories really increased the relevance for our students. One of the best things about the day is that we targeted BHS Alum to come speak to our students. The conversations between presenters at the luncheon we provided after and the chance to step back into the building, gave those Alumni a chance to catch up with one another and share some great stories. Our students benefitted a great deal by the generosity of these folks who gave up a day in their busy schedule to be with us.

Celebrating Success It has been a great year to celebrate the amazing success of our students participating in extracurricular activities. In athletics, it began in the Fall with our Varsity Girls’ Soccer team finishing as Northern Maine Runner’s Up and continued in the Winter with our Varsity Boys’

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Basketball team also finishing as Northern Maine Runner’s up. In that time we also had a 2nd place finish for our Chess team; a 3rd place finish at States for our talented Jazz Combo group; our Middle School, High School combined Band was invited to play at the State House; and our One Act Play finished as Runner’s Up in their competition. Our students are involved in so much and have been wonderful representatives of not only our school, but also our RSU 25 community.

Class of 2016: Honor Parts Recipients We are excited to announce our honor parts for the graduating class of 2016. They are a phenomenal group of students who have worked hard to achieve this honor. Eliza Hosford: Valedictorian Parent(s): Ralph and Jessica Hosford Honors: Valedictorian, Highest Honors (9-12), MPA Principal’s Award High School Activities: Student Council 9-12 (Co-President 11-12); NHS 11-12 (President 12); Varsity Soccer 9-12 (PVC All Conference 3rd Team, PVC All Conference 2nd Team, PVC All-Academic Team, Captain 11-12; Varsity Softball 9-12 (PVC All Conference 1st Team, Most Improved Player), Captain 12; Class Officer 12 (Secretary), Prom Committee 11, Math Team 10-12, Student Leadership Team 12, Dirigo Girls’ State Delegate 11, Maine Youth Leadership Representative 10, Student of the Month for March, Buddy Program 11-12, PVC Scholar – Athlete Award, Dartmouth College Book Award, Society of Women Engineers Certificate of Merit College Plans: University of Maine Field of Study: Chemical Engineering Kaylee Grindle: Salutatorian Parent(s): Jason and Michelle Grindle Honors: Salutatorian, High/Highest Honors (9-12) High School Activities: Student Council 9-12 (Secretary 10, 11-12 President); NHS 11-12 (Vice President 12), Hillcrest Yearbook Editor 11-12, Soccer 9-12 (Captain 12); Softball 9-12, (Captain 12), Student of the Month for February, School Announcement Participant. College Plans: University of Maine at Orono Field of Study: Elementary Education Brittney Moran: 1st Honor Essayist Parent(s): Eric and Wendy Moran Honors: First Honor Essayist, High/Highest Honors (9-12) High School Activities: Student Council 11-12, NHS 12, Hillcrest Yearbook Editor 11-12, Internship at Miles Lane 11-12 College Plans: University of Maine at Orono Field of Study: Double Major in Communication Science and Disorders, and Elementary Education

Hunter Gross: 2nd Honor Essayist Parent(s): Kim Pluard, Mike Gross Honors: 2nd Honor Essayist, High/Highest Honors High School Activities: Band 9-12, Jazz Band 10-12, Jazz Band Combo, Math Team 11-12, Robotics Club 12, Student Leadership Team 12, Mr. Bucksport Committee Sound Manager 9-12, Dirigo Boys’ State 11. College Plans: University of Maine Field of Study: Computer Engineering

Bucksport Middle School- Josh Tripp, Principal BMS Robotics Team This year, a group of BMS students formed the Robotics Team advised by Tom Foster and Robert Berrios. This group met after school for many hours and constructed a VEX Robot that would later compete at two different regional events. The VEX Robotics Design System offers students an exciting platform for learning about areas rich with career opportunities spanning science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Beyond science and engineering principles, a VEX Robotics project encourages teamwork, leadership, and problem solving among groups. The robots that they constructed had to meet certain specifications with the ultimate goal of competing

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in a game where they had to pick up game balls and shoot them into either a low or high goal. Our team competed at a regional event at Brewer High School where they were the only middle school team in the competition. They were chosen to compete in the playoff rounds and performed admirably. At this competition, our students were recognized with a Sportsmanship Award. We are very proud of their efforts and how they represented Bucksport Middle School.

The B.A.R.R. Program Comes to BMS This year Bucksport Middle School became one of two middle schools in the nation to be part of the Building Assets Reducing Risks program. This is the same program that BHS has been part of over the past several years and has received national recognition for the work that they have accomplished. In grades 7 and 8, our teachers have implemented the B.A.R.R. program with great fidelity and success. Last summer, teachers in these grades went through two days of implementation training. Currently our teachers meet weekly to talk about every student and discuss their academic and social/emotional needs. Since we have implemented this program, we have seen a 125% increase in parent contacts along with continued academic gains for our students. We are excited to continue this partnership with the B.A.R.R. program and look forward to seeing our students benefit from it.

Visual and Performing Arts and Gifted and Talented Programs Throughout the course of the year, students at Bucksport Middle School have had the opportunity to showcase many different talents. Our Drama Club put on a wonderful rendition of the Disney musical “Peter Pan Jr.”. Our Band and Chorus students put on their traditional Winter and Spring concerts. Once again this spring, our Gifted and Talented Visual and Performing Arts Program had the opportunity one evening to showcase their talents. This ranged from artwork displays, piano and guitar solos, and many wonderful choral performances. We have many talented Visual and Performing Arts students and they continue to amaze us with their artistic and musical talents. This year was also the first time that we identified gifted and talented students in the content areas of science and social studies. Students extended the work that they are doing in the classroom to a variety of research projects and hands on experiences.

Curriculum and Technology At BMS we are continuing to implement Math in Focus, Lucy Calkins Units of Study in Writing, and the MainePSP Units (Science). We are experiencing great success with these programs and we are excited about the consistency it is bringing to all of our students. Next year, we will be implementing Lucy Calking Units of Study in Reading in grade 5 and will be focusing on reading instruction at all grade levels. We are continuing to look at our teaching practices and assessments as a staff so that we can continue to deliver a high quality of education to our students. We were fortunate enough to be able to offer a graduate class through the University of Maine, PCL 554: An Exploration of the Writing Workshop in Middle and High School Settings - Designed for Educators Who Teach Students in Grades 5 - 12, in all content studies in Maine Partnerships in Comprehensive Literacy (MPCL) Schools. This has been great professional development for our teachers and has provided us the opportunity to design programs and structures to help educate our students and meet their literacy needs. This year we introduced a new class called Informational Technology to our students. This class teaches the technology skills that are necessary for our students to be successful both in school and in the real world. We continue to look at ways to use technology to improve the education of our students. Our teachers have developed instructional videos for their students, created classroom websites, made use of online instructional programs, and differentiated instruction through the use of technology. We are continually looking at our curriculum and technology to see where we can provide more meaningful opportunities for our students.

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Miles Lane School- Christina Ellis, Principal Miles Lane School Participates in the Masons’ ‘Bikes for Books’ Program In May Special thanks to our local Masons Chapter for giving us an opportunity to participate in the Masons’ ‘Bikes for Books’ program this year! Students in grades 1 through 4 will be keeping track of all of the books they are reading from May 1 to May 31. With each book they read, they will receive an entry into a drawing for a new bicycle and helmet. The Masons have donated 8 bicycles and 8 helmets total to MLS for this program. We will be giving away one boy’s bike and one girl’s bike per grade level at a special assembly on June 9. Our students are very excited about this wonderful program. We have some happy readers this month for sure!

Third and Fourth Graders at MLS Take Part in the eMPower ME New State Assessment Again this year, the state of Maine transitioned to a new state assessment. This new assessment is called eMPower ME (also referred to as the MEA) and replaces the Smarter Balanced Assessment (SBAC) that students in grades three and four took for one year last spring. The eMPower ME test is all computerized and tests students in both Math and English/Language Arts. Our students did a great job with this assessment that required roughly seven hours of testing time for each student in the computer lab. We are not sure when our results will be available to us. Since this assessment is completely different than the NECAP and the Smarter Balanced Assessment, we are not sure yet if the results from the three different assessments will be comparable.

Unified Arts Showcase: ‘We Could Be Heroes’ Performance at Miles Lane School On May 3rd and 4th, the Miles Lane School Unified Arts Department presented its annual showcase with a superheroes theme. ‘We Could Be Heroes’ combined music, art and physical fitness activities and displays that our students have been working hard on putting together. Be sure to check out our Miles Lane School page on the district website and also our Miles Lane School Facebook page for pictures from these nights.

Monthly School-Wide Assemblies This year, we started a new monthly assembly practice. On the last Friday of each month, our ‘Wing Teams’ took turns leading these assemblies for the rest of our student body. Many of those assemblies involved our school’s focus on persisting when things get hard and managing our impulses (thinking before we act). We also had a winter fun assembly and an assembly that focused on the importance of reading. Check out the photo gallery at the Miles Lane School page of the district website for pictures from several of these assemblies this year. The next assembly will be held on Friday, May 27.

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Miles Lane School Teachers Receive Training in Project WILD: During our Friday in service day in March, the teaching staff at Miles Lane School worked with the Maine Audubon Society to be trained in the Project WILD program. This program is aligned to the Maine Learning Results and the Next Gen Science Standards. Teachers participated in hands-on activities much like they would use with students as part of this resource and program. As listed on its website (www.projectwild.org), Project WILD is a wildlife-focused conservation education program for K-12 teachers and students. All teachers who participated in the four-hour training received a copy of the new, updated Project WILD curriculum guide and access to professional development resource personnel from Maine Audubon Society. We would also like to thank the Great Pond Mountain Trust for their involvement in organizing and participating in this training day.

**Be sure to ‘like’ us on Facebook to keep up-to-date on happenings at the Miles Lane School!**  Jewett School-Susan Lamoreau, Principal The Jewett School is the home of five Kindergarten classrooms, three Pre-Kindergarten/Head Start classrooms, Special Services Office, Parks & Recreation Department, Health Planning Director and fitness center site. School programming/classes of art, music, physical education, library, and computer lab are scheduled in weekly. Comprehensive special education instruction, Title I programing and nursing services are offered daily and our safety officer visits occasionally. Great homemade breakfasts and hot lunches are available and served to students and staff who sign up daily. Kindergarten registration is still open and we will be screening entering students the second week of June. If you have a child who will be coming to kindergarten in the fall and have not registered yet, please call our school office @ 469-6644 for information! Mrs. Judy Shute, our school secretary, greets our community members as they enter our school. Upon entrance you will find that we have a security protocol that allows individuals to enter our building while ensuring a safe environment for our students and staff. We started the school year with seventy-two (72) kindergarten students and presently have seventy-six (76) students. This school year, the GHJ Staff has focused their work on implementing grade level benchmarks and directing instruction around proficiency based education using promotional standards and piloting a new writing instructional program. Our math program is in its fourth year, which we find to be rigorous and challenging and our new writing program offers new skill sets in student instruction. Students are rising to the challenge and demonstrating good progress. Teacher professional development is concentrating on developing bench mark rubrics to use with each content standard. Intervention for students in the area of reading, math and writing are scheduled for students needing support, and we find the Lexia Literacy computer based program to be quite successful. Parents will have the opportunity to continue with this support over the summer, if desired. Our students participated in a variety of activities throughout the year. We had our first Kindergarten Holiday Concert, which was a highlight of the year, the High School Band and Chorus were here and performed Christmas music, the Coast Guard shared water safety tips and demonstrated equipment uses, the fire department provided us a “fire safety” lesson, and we celebrated Dr. Seuss’ birthday in March. Healthy Acadia representative, Ms. Fox comes monthly and provides us lessons on healthy foods. We planted seeds last spring in our raised garden beds and enjoyed eating the vegetables. We will round out the school year with local community field trips and the end- of- the -year school based “beach party” with Blue Hill students providing entertainment. We are proud to say our parent/teacher conferences this past November were 100% participation. This really speaks to the parental support and vested interest parents have in their children and school environment. We are always looking for volunteers. If you are interested in volunteering, please call the school to sign up for our 30 minute training session!

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Our Parent Teacher Organization has been dedicated in raising funds to help initiatives within our schools and have provided support in our computer lab with some equipment needs. During Teacher Appreciation Week they brought in some yummy treats too! Many thanks to them. Our pre-kindergarten/Head start program houses three classrooms with forty-eight (48) students attending. The program offers three classrooms with four half-day learning sessions for children ages three and four years old and offers developmental academic, social/emotional, physical and language development enriching experiences. If you are interested in pre-kindergarten learning opportunities, please call the school and request an application. Our next session will start in September. We can be reached at 469-2755. The RSU’s Special Services Office is housed at GHJ School. You will find special education administration, our assessment examiner, special education social worker, and related service providers of speech/language and occupational therapies housed here too. Mrs. Kimberly Geagan will meet and assist you in any special education questions. We can be reached at 469-6642. In closing, the GHJ staff would like to thank all of our parents and community members for their ongoing support.

RSU 25 Gifted and Talented Program 2015-2016 The Gifted and Talented District Program is concluding its third year of full time implementation. Eighty-two students participated in the program academically and in the arts through advanced placement classes, enrichment activities, and pull-out group work. Four new students from Miles Lane were identified in visual arts, two in math, and one in language arts. At the middle school level, the program welcomed five new students in performing arts and one in visual art following the audition and portfolio processes. Bucksport Middle also admitted one student for math, science, and language arts, and one for social studies. Personal Learning Plan meetings were scheduled and conducted for new students in December, January, and April. Nine Visual Arts students at the high school level had the opportunity to attend a four-day session at Haystack this past fall. In celebration of Youth Art Month, there was a display of art work in the former Rosen’s store window created by students in grades 4-12 in the GT art program. Also, the Second Annual Gifted & Talented Showcase Night was held on April 28. Middle school performing arts students demonstrated their talents vocally and instrumentally, while work from visual art students was presented outside the auditorium. Gifted and Talented science students were serviced by middle school science teacher Amanda Hoffert. They looked at what the students were interested in with a long range goal involved. The students built a CO2 car to compete with high school and college students at HCTC. By reading and analyzing The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, they looked at how a life’s story affected science and research. The students also have looked at what type of science interests them after school and have been exposed to science opportunities that may be available in high school. Following a field trip to Northeast Historic Film, the middle school GT social studies group taught by Laurie Brooks chose to research the history of the Alamo building. Working with Brook Miner, director of NHF, primary sources were examined and processed to be added to link on the Maine Memory Network. The students will be completing a slide show presentation and a filming of The Movie Queen which will be part of the Alamo’s 100th anniversary celebration. The Gifted and Talented Program continues to grow and refine its practices to best serve the students in RSU 25. Laurie Brooks GT Coordinator/Educator

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RSU 25 Curriculum Office-Evelyn Beaulieu, Director

Performance-based Education in RSU 25 Update on the 2015 – 2016 School Year The RSU 25 teaching staff has been working hard this year on the following components of performance-based education to have ready for the next school year: 1) learning targets; 2) common assessments; 3) science curriculum; 4) reporting our Kindergarten – Grade 4 promotion standards; and 5) our Kindergarten – Grade 8 writing curriculum.

Learning Targets Learning targets allow us to specifically define what students need to know and what they must do with that knowledge. We need clear targets to: Know if the assessment adequately covers what we taught. Identify what students know and do not know. Allow students to self-assess and set goals for future study. Keep track of student learning by targets and standards. Our learning targets are written in “I can” statements and will be distributed to students and parents at the beginning of the school year. Our district identifies our Kindergarten to Grade 8 learning targets as our promotion standards and our Grade 9 to Grade 12 as graduation standards. Please visit our Miles Lane website to view our Kindergarten to Grade 4 promotion standards: https://sites.google.com/a/rsu25.org/mls/

Common Assessments Another important component of student learning is consistent feedback regardless of the teacher and classroom. Our goal of teachers teaching common courses and content is to develop consistent formative and summative assessments for students to experience a fair and equitable education. This year our Middle School English teachers developed a common writing assessment. It is titled our D.E.E.R. rubric and it is a guideline for writing constructed responses, which are on our state assessment.

Science Curriculum A goal for this year was to strengthen our science curriculum. We are partners with the University of Maine for Grade 6, 8, & 9 science and we added the Elementary Science Partnership. We have two Grade 4 teacher trainers and we piloted the curriculum in Kindergarten through Grade 4. We also partnered with Maine Audubon and offered a Project Wild training for our Kindergarten – Grade 4 life science curriculum.

Reporting Kindergarten to Grade 4 Promotion Standards A goal for this year is to have one common report card for Kindergarten to Grade 4. Christina Ellis, our elementary school principal, presented a great overview to the changes in her school reporting student progress at our Open House and her Parent Advisory Committee meetings.

Kindergarten – Grade 8 Writing Curriculum This school year our Kindergarten to Grade 8 teachers worked hard piloting our new Units of Study in Writing by Lucy Calkins. Teachers have reported seeing improvement in our student writing, students are creating longer writing pieces in class and on constructed response items on our state assessment.

What is ahead for next year?    

Kindergarten to Grade 5 will pilot our new reading curriculum: Units of Study in Reading by Lucy Calkins. We have purchased classroom libraries for all Kindergarten to Grade 5 classrooms and will promote reading. Our Middle School will promote 2016 – 2017 as the Year of the Reader in each classroom. Our High School staff is hard at work on our national New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) accreditation process. Our Curriculum Office is also working on a Nellie Mae Community Grant to revisit our RSU 25 Strategic Plan and the communities’ school vision for the next five years.

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RSU 25 Adult and Community Education- Leslie Murauckas, Director

Literacy We provide comprehensive services in adult basic education, high school completion, workforce training, and College Transitions, all of which include learners whose first language is not English. This year we are excited to offer the nationally recognized NorthStar Basic Computer Skills Certification in addition to our ongoing Financial Literacy program. Students earn certificates for topics they master and those completing the entire series receive comprehensive certificates. Prospective employers prefer to see this type of proof of proficiency .

Workforce Training RSU 25 Adult Education in collaboration with local partners was chosen as one of five sites in the state to be awarded the Adult Education Integrated Education Training Pilot grant. The goal of the project is to develop a model for designing skills training that includes educational supports making training programs accessible to all adult learners, especially individuals with barriers to employment, the economically disadvantaged, people with disabilities, veterans, older workers, and ex-offenders. The project priority is to develop a model which can be replicated for separate industries (i.e. construction, hospitality, information technology) both in the Hancock County region and beyond. Our pilot focuses on the healthcare field and students have the ability to obtain CNA, CRMA, NorthStar Basic Computer Skills, and WorkReady credentials while in the program. The modules developed with this grant will be used in the many other areas of workforce training that we offer.

High School Completion We offer both Diploma and HiSET testing as pathways to high school completion. Our programs align with College and Career Readiness Standards and include both computer and financial literacy proficiencies. Career Pathways is an integral part of our learning center programs and our staff work hard to ensure students are prepared for the next steps after graduation.

College Transitions and ITV In collaboration with other area programs, we offer the Maine College Transitions program, specifically geared to provide free access to tutoring for students who have a diploma but are not quite ready for college courses. We also work closely with area colleges to better prepare students for successful experiences in post-secondary education. We have four college access rooms connecting us to University College through ITV distance technology and providing access to many degree and certificate programs through our state university system. Students can save time and money while earning their degrees .

Enrichment Our program offers a variety of offerings for leisure, fun, and healthy activities. We were delighted to continue offering Italian Cooking and partner with Healthy Acadia to provide a free series for healthy eating. We added Asian Fusion along with several other cooking workshops in biscuit, cracker, and doughnut making. Community members may register for Yoga, Tai Chi, Karate either for the entire course or to try an evening on a drop in basis. Whether you are interested in welding, craftwork, or writing or want to check out a class in something new, we have something for you.

Online Courses Don’t forget to check out our hundreds of online course offerings. We have courses for professional development as well as fun, new hobbies or career exploration. Don’t have a computer or internet access? Our computer lab is open to any student taking a class with us.

As always, if you do not see a course you would like to teach or attend, give us a call (207) 469-2129 and we will do our best to make it happen!

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