LIVERMORE — Regional School Unit 73 approved the appointment of Gregory “Greg” Henderson as the next Spruce Mountain Middle School Principal.

Henderson will start his new position July 1. For the past two years he was assistant principal at Oak Hill High School, RSU 4 in Wales. He was assistant principal at Skowhegan Area High School for five years and prior to that he spent nine years as guidance counselors at Cony and Hall–Dale.

Henderson lives in Readfield with his wife, Jennifer, eight year old daughter Julia and six year old son Calvin.

The directors approved a five–day canoe trip for Spruce Mountain High School Assistant Principal Marc Keller and two students, pending verification of insurance coverage.

Keller said they will be going with a group from Mt. Abram High School. It is part of an effort to get an outdoor club started at Spruce similar to the one he was involved with while on staff at Mt. Abram. The trip to Jackman to canoe Moose River is the fifth one for Keller.

“The goal is to develop interest, take our own trip,” he said.

The students will learn how to pack for a trip, set up campfires and experience other educational pieces in the outdoors.

Parents will carpool the group to and from Jackman.

Keller said four students have expressed interest. The first two to complete the paperwork will go.

In other business, a close out report on the Siemens infrastructure project was given by the company’s Tom Seekins. Major renovations to the elementary school were completed plus work at other district buildings in an effort to improve energy efficiencies.

Seekins said about $6 million worth of work was done to the buildings.

“It’s one of the most challenging ones we’ve ever done,” he said. “We’ve done $20 million in projects in the last year. By far this project will have the biggest impact.”

The project’s annual energy savings will be $110,532.

About $34,000 in additional costs were incurred due to costs not carried in the job description prior to construction. Issues found at the start of construction added $51,500 more.
Director Doug DiPasquale said the district could have spent $5 million on the elementary school alone. The state has a $2.5 million cap per building.

“An energy savings is guaranteed. If not, Siemens will reimburse us,” he said.

Seekins noted everything has to work together to yield savings.

“If not, it means our design was faulty,” he said.

Directors also approved a warrant to call a special RSU 73 meeting 6 p.m. Thursday, August 22 at the Spruce Mountain Elementary School. Voters from Jay, Livermore and Livermore Falls will be asked to approve the formation of a regional service center pursuant to an Interlocal Agreement for the Western Maine Regional Service Center.

Regional service centers are intended to promote cost savings through the consolidation of services and reduce state subsidies for central office administration.

By joining WMRSC, RSU 73 was expected to have a net gain of $61,892 in subsidy by April estimates. The state will also pay for each district’s student information system, a savings of about $10,000 for Spruce Mountain.

The WMRSC Interlocal Agreement must be approved by the Maine Commissioner of Education. Each local school board must call a regular or special district budget meeting or a district referendum vote with a majority of district voters approving the agreement.

If approved, WMRSC would begin operation in July 2020 for a period of two years.