Regional School Unit 10 Superintendent Peter DeFillipp of Mexico, second from left, expresses his frustrations Tuesday with the board’s decision-making process on policies and following Robert’s rules of order during their meeting on at Buckfield Junior-Senior High School. From left are Dan Hodge of Rumford, DeFillipp, Ed Bulger of Rumford, Board Secretary Peggy Therriault and Superintendent Deb Alden. Marianne Hutchinson/Rumford Falls Times

BUCKFIELD — School District 10 principals voted Tuesday to begin the process of moving fifth-grade classrooms from Mountain Valley Middle School to Rumford Elementary School and making the former Mexico police station on Recreation Drive ready for sixth-graders.

The middle school at 58 Highland Terrace in Mexico was closed on October 8 after air quality tests showed high levels of mold. Students transitioned to online learning on October 15. The school serves 366 students in grades five through eight.

At Tuesday’s Buckfield Junior-Senior High School board meeting, plans to use the Apostolic Church at 9 Brown St. from Mexico were dropped, mainly because sixth-grade teachers and middle school principal Carrie Luce were concerned there wasn’t enough room for the classes. and staff storage.

“I think we all feel the urgency of needing to get our kids back in person, and the church would provide a quick fix,” Luce said, “but it would be at any cost, and that’s not what’s best for the students. We would have burst the seams in that space.”

The sixth grade has 104 students, Luce said, and they will be “crammed together like sardines in a can.”

Mexico City Manager Raquel Welch-Day told principals she received an email from Superintendent Deb Alden last week saying the district would not be using the former police station on Recreation Drive.

“I want this to be clear to the school board, parents and citizens that the city of Mexico has been very willing to work with RSU 10 to place students in our buildings,” she said.

She said that when she spoke to Alden about “going overboard” in communicating with the Good Shepherd Food Bank about whether the building’s food pantry could be moved to the first floor, Alden “took the building off her list.”

As the board continued discussions, it became clear that the former police station was feasible for sixth-grade classes.

Director Allison Long of Buckfield signaled to move forward with investigating the use of the police station, subject to the food pantry’s approval to move into one of the trailers there.

Before it was unanimously approved by the board, Welch-Day said she received a text message from someone watching the meeting online that using a food pantry trailer would not be a “cost savings.”

With that information, Welch-Day told the board that moving the food pantry from the ground floor into the building would be an option, thus opening up the upstairs for sixth-grade classrooms.

Seventh and eighth grades are expected to move to Mountain Valley High School in Rumford.

The construction of the 92 million dollars Mountain Valley Community School on Highland Avenue in Mexico is underway and expected to open in August 2025. It will serve more than 1,000 students in kindergarten through eighth grade, replacing the middle school, Meroby Elementary School at 21 Cross St. in Mexico and Rumford Elementary School at 121. Lincoln Ave.

Regional School Unit 10 includes Mexico, Rumford, Roxbury, Buckfield, Sumner, Hartford and Hanover.

The next school board meeting is set for November 25th at 6pm at Mountain Valley High School in Rumford.

Regional School Unit 10 business manager Leah Kaulback speaks Tuesday from the podium at Buckfield Junior-Senior High School in Buckfield, saying the district can move up to 5 percent of its budget between cost centers if needed. The district used money from vacancies and savings to clean Mountain Valley Middle School in Mexico of mold earlier this year. However, the building closed on October 8 after tests showed high levels of mold. Marianne Hutchinson/Rumford Falls Times

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