Wyndham Raymond board names Grace Levitt delegate, backs MSBA resolutions with amendments

The Wyndham Raymond School District Board of Directors selected Grace Levitt to serve as the district’s delegate to the Maine School Boards Association annual delegate assembly and voted to support the association’s proposed resolutions and bylaws at the Oct. 18 assembly.

Board members agreed that the delegate should be able to handle the meeting’s technology requirements; Levitt volunteered and the board confirmed her as delegate. "Nominate Grace. I nominate Grace Levitt to be our representative," a board member said; Levitt agreed to practice the technology for voting in the Zoom-based assembly.

On the resolutions, board members conducted a page-by-page review and recorded local positions, amendments and requests for clarification to present at the assembly. The board voted to support the packet overall while asking the delegate to propose or record several changes and to request additional rationale where the rationale was not provided.

Notable actions and clarifications the board asked the delegate to convey:
- An amendment to a resolution on the role of the U.S. Department of Education: board member Grace Levitt proposed inserting language that any such federal change "would negatively impact all students," and the board approved that amendment to the rationale.
- A request for specifics on the claim that certain federal funds had been withheld from Maine schools; staff reported that Title II and Title IV funds were temporarily delayed and that some ESSER-related state grant allocations had been rescinded and later restored; board asked the delegate to seek a clear list of affected funds and whether RSU 14 had been directly impacted.
- Support with amendments for multiple deletions, edits and rewrites across the MSBA packet (for example, deleting some older position statements and approving updated wording on school curricula and technology), with the board asking the delegate to request rationale when a deletion lacked explanation.
- An amendment request on a proposed artificial intelligence policy language to remove the phrase "requires original thought" so that AI guidance would not unintentionally bar assignments that teach AI use.
- Discussion and a recommended amendment on a probationary employment period proposal: the board asked the delegate to advance the rewrite but preferred a two-year probationary period in the language rather than the three-year period in the draft; the draft “replacement” language drew objection as confusing.

Board members also asked the delegate to report back on questions including the legal effect of the immigrant-students resolution and whether cited cases or statutes have been superseded. The board approved the association’s proposed constitution and bylaws as presented.

Outcome: the board voted to support the MSBA package with the noted amendments and clarifications and confirmed Grace Levitt as its delegate to present the board’s positions and to report back to RSU 14.