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RSU 56 school psychologist Jessica Swan, left, packages meals with Dirigo High School Assistant Principal and Athletic Director Jess McGreevy at Dirigo Middle School in Dixfield last year. Buses deliver the food to the homes of students.
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COVID-19’s foray into Maine only strengthened Jessica McGreevy’s ties to the students at Dirigo High School and the residents of the four communities that the school serves.
The outgoing Dirigo athletic director and assistant principal recently stepped down after a two-year stint, during which she helped students through a deadly pandemic that still remains a threat around the globe.
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PARIS The SAD 17 board of directors Monday approved a proposal from an ad hoc committee to move forward with hiring a new superintendent. Part of the proposal included increasing the funds for the search from $8,000 to $20,000.
The plan gives giving the board chairwoman and the superintendent search committee authority to oversee the search process, including all decision-making through the search. It also approved the proposal with the Maine School Boards Association. The committee also requested that the funds allocated to the search be increased from $8,000 to $20,000.
“We need to move ahead and do what we need to without having the board vote on every change on the proposal we have with MSMA,” Committee Chair Curtis Cole told the Board. “The $8,000 is based on a limited number of applicants…if we don’t spend the extra money it will go back into contingency.”
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REGION In recent years recruitment and retention for police departments in Maine and across the U.S. has become more and more of a challenge. In Franklin and Oxford counties, local forces have fared a little better than more urban communities. But the pandemic has stalled high school and college law enforcement education, as well as the residential certifications sessions held twice a year at the Maine Criminal Justice Academy in Vassalboro.
The academy’s programming remained in limbo for months as public gathering and social distancing restrictions made it impossible to operate. Some classes were able to continue using Zoom and other virtual technology. But practical police training must be hands-on and as real to life as possible.
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REGION COVID-19 continues to surge through Maine but Oxford Hills has been able to keep its numbers relatively stable since the beginning of the year. The region saw about a 5% rise in cumulative cases as of Jan. 10.
Oxford/Otisfield had the largest increase, going from 130 on Jan. 3 to 145 by Jan. 18.
The Maine Center for Disease Control reported that the case ranges for Hebron, Waterford and West Paris had not changed. On Jan. 3 Hebron and Waterford had between 20-49 cases of COVID-19 each and West Paris was 50-99.
COVID-19 statistics for Oxford County as of Jan. 19, 2021.
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Harrison saw an additional five cases in the first 10 days of the year, increasing from 63-68. Norway and South Paris each reported seven more cases. As of Jan. 10, Norway currently stood at 124 and South Paris 195.
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OXFORD Two months following long-time director David Dunn’s resignation from SAD 17’s school board, Oxford’s Board of Selectmen appointed Lisa Dunham to serve as director. Dunn resigned in November when his wife, Joan Davis-Dunn, took a position at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School..
Dunham came to Oxford Hills as a seasonal, third generation resident of Otisfield, where her grandparents had a vacation home. Dunham and her family moved to Oxford permanently 16 years ago.
After working several years for the Oxford Hills Chamber of Commerce, Dunham, along with her mother and aunt, bought Valley View Orchard Pies in 2018. They moved the business from Hebron to Oxford in 2019.