March 24, 2026
To: RSU #74 Board of Directors
From: Mark Campbell
Re: April Board Report
I would like to invite members of the board to visit classrooms throughout the district in April. There are many great activities happening in your buildings. I know teachers would appreciate the opportunity to showcase the hard work their students are doing. I would ask that you call the building(s) you wish to visit the day before to notify the administration. This would also provide them the time to share any special events that may be happening that day that might conflict with your goals of visiting classrooms. If you cannot stop by during the day, I would encourage you to check out some of the academic programs being held in our PreK - 5 buildings this spring. For example, the Community Literacy Team is sponsoring an event on April 16 with the title for the evening focused on “Adventures in Literacy.” I believe each of the K-5 staff are hosting a STEAM event in their respective schools. I will ask those dates be shared prior to the event.
We went through the changes in the budget last week. As of my writing this letter I have not received any emails/calls regarding the numbers. We will vote on the budget next week. I will share that I am still waiting for information from the high school on course enrollments. We had numerous classes where teacher to student ratios were extremely low. If this trend continues, and I have no reason to believe it won’t as the high school enrollment is down roughly 25 students in the last 2 years, I will be bringing forth ideas to address this. I have asked for the enrollment numbers and will help make decisions around the number of sections for each course that we should be offering as well as which one(s) we won’t offer because the enrollment doesn’t warrant it being held. This means there is a likelihood teachers at the high school will not have full course loads (6 classes, 1 prep, 1 study hall). I see one of two options in addressing this. Either we have fewer high school teachers or move 8th graders to the high school and let the RIF process determine staffing for an 8-12 building. The latter may create anxiety around 8th graders being in with 11th and 12th graders but other school systems have done this with minimal issues. The latter option on the high school solution also provides an opportunity to address room availability in the Pre-K to 5 buildings. Two areas we will likely need solutions for include possibly need for a Pre-K room at CCS as we turned students away last summer and secondly, and a definite for the 2027-2028 school year is when we must be ready to handle 3 year-olds who receive services from CDS (Child Development Services) as this program is being phased out and shifted to local school systems. If we are able to move 8th graders to the high school, we would have 4 empty classrooms in the upper end of CCS. Could we possibly move all 5th grade classrooms into that area?
I heard the message about concerns around my feeling of the need to present a budget to the voters with a reduction given the significant increase in State funding in the areas of Special Education. My recommendations within this budget also comes from promises made to the voters during two years ago when we added positions. My words were that the additions would be removed once the need became less apparent. The more I examine factors, the stronger the evidence is focusing my attention on need. I have received data on students assigned for Title I (Tier II) support and for Intervention (Tier III) support. A quick look shows no signifcant change in enrollment in these two support programs. This certainly beckons other questions for the administration to ask ourselves. In the area of student enrollment though, the reality is, homeschooling has been a huge factor this year, making our enrollment numbers a driving factor for decisions around staffing needs.
Sub-committee meetings:
Negotiations met several times since our March 4 meeting. You will be asked to vote to support the collective bargaining agreement that both teams have signed a TA on. I will explain more in the agenda portion of my report.
The Restructure Committee met on March 11. I sought and received support from this committee to form a committee of staff, administrators, board members, and myself to plan and implement a means to collect insight from the stakeholders for RSU 74 in order to formulate a 10 year strategic plan to address our educational objectives while balancing our financial responsibilities to the taxpayers. I have asked staff members to join from each building so buildings, employee roles, and the board have representation on this committee. Hoping to schedule a meeting for this committee to meet prior to the April school vacation. I will keep you posted.
The Finance Committee met on March 11. You have seen and heard the budget numbers which was the bulk of our discussion at that meeting.
Agenda:
Appointments - There is a lengthy list of appointments. I trust the AD will address new coaches. I appreciate the interest we are getting from community members to volunteer to support our offerings.
Resignations - Kelsie Walter, Educational Technician I at Garret Schenck has decided to step away from this role. We thank her for her time supporting students and wish her well.
Jean Butler, Garret Schenck and Solon Elementary Principal. I thanked Jean last summer for the dedication to the children of RSU 74 as her efforts impacted students throughout the district during her tenure here. As well her work provided numerous opportunities for staff to grow as educators. We are grateful she was able to step back in this fall when we were unable to find a candidate who satisfied the criteria for this position. These will be a tough pair of shoes to fill with all she has done for the district during her distinguished career. We wish Jean the very best in her retirement.
Appointments: Shyanne Durand - Special Education Ed-Tech I at CCS. Shyanne’s work in the private sector includes supporting adult clients and as an employee in a daycare setting. Her former employers and co-workers had many positive comments about her work and work ethic.
Action Items:
Item 6: This is the second reading for Policy BDE - Board Standing Committees. We have not made any changes to this recommended policy that is replacing three policies governing only 3 of the standing committees we have. Policy BDE addresses all of our committees.
Item 7: I will share since we met on March 18, that this budget does include additional funding for an additional educational technician III position. I shared at the budget workshop we had 4 new students with 3 having Special Education support, well it is actually 5 new with 4 having support. Tammy Wyman and I met on Thursday to discuss the impact on staffing around the district as the new students are coming into multiple buildings. As of today, our plan is to use the teacher position at the HS to support an ed-tech III at the HS for math, then have this teacher provide additional support at CCS and at GSS. All of this wonderful plan is contingent on there being a teacher out there.
Item 8 - The Negotiation Committee and the CEA leadership group have tentatively agreed on a new 3-year proposal. Changes in wording include adding a definition for days under the grievance sections for filing a grievance to exclude vacation days, legal holidays, and school cancellation days but adding that for the summer break, days will be when the office of the superintendent is open. The insurance breakdown remains unchanged. Currently the district pays 100% for singles, 85% for adult and child, and 80% for 2 adults and a full family. These percentages were close to neighboring districts but as Troy shared with the Association, districts elsewhere are bargaining newer breakdowns to address district costs with rapidly rising premium costs. The last component where the groups came to a tentative agreement on is for salaries. The percent increase for next year on each step is at 3.5% with the subsequent two years being at 4.25% on each step. Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have any questions on this.