New superintendent in Orono ushered in School committee discusses its function

ORONO – The school committee gathered Tuesday night for a special meeting to discuss the new superintendent’s transition and the function of the committee.

“Where do we need to go with this team approach?” Union 87 Superintendent Kelly Clenchy asked committee members. Union 87 is composed of Orono and Veazie schools and has a single superintendent. Clenchy said the relationship between the superintendent and the school committee should resemble that of a team.

The consensus about how that team should operate revolved around communication. Committee members were pleased with the recent change of the agenda format that allows for more open discussion and they reiterated Tuesday night that open dialogue is key to operating successfully.

“We need to understand what’s happening in the school setting,” Clenchy said.

Committee members, many of whom have children in the school system, agreed, noting that what they hear from their children often differs from the information they get from administrators or what they hear from other residents.

“I still don’t think the community gets a fair view of all the good things our schools are doing,” Chairman Jim Artesani said. “I don’t think our students get enough credit for the kind of climate we have in our schools.”

The committee admitted that there are problems in the Orono school system, but noted that problems such as drugs and alcohol need to be looked at as a community and not just by the school.

“I don’t want to suggest that there aren’t problems, and even if there weren’t that we don’t need to work on things,” Artesani said, “because the problems could be just around the corner.”

Taking an active role in their function as a committee was a top priority for members. Committee member Robert Swindlehurst said that hearing from a variety of school officials, such as the school resource officer, would be beneficial to the committee. Committee members also said they would like to hear firsthand from students what they see as the positives and negatives of their schools.

“I think getting information from multiple sources would be helpful for us,” Artesani said. “Hearing that student voice is important.”

The committee and Clenchy agreed that the disconnected relationship between the school and the community needs work.

One way to begin bridging that gap is through the Union 87 Web site, which recently has received a major face-lift.

“What I’ve tried to do is create a page that will be helpful to my students and their parents, but also to people looking at the town of Orono,” Jane Van Arsdale, an Orono High School teacher, said while showing committee members how to navigate the site.

Visitors to the Web page now have access to the Web sites of each school in Union 87, as well as sports schedules, an activity calendar, class and teacher information, and the student handbook for Orono High School.

“We’ve got more of a presence on the Web than we’ve had in the past, I think,” she said.