JAY — Regional School Unit 73 board of directors on Thursday evening approved handbook changes for the district’s four Spruce Mountain schools, including a No Tolerance Policy at the primary school in Livermore.

Darcy Shink, the new principal at Spruce Mountain Primary School, requested adding a consequence matrix “as a guide so there is consistency between students, staff and parents between behaviors and the consequences for that behavior but understanding that it is circumstantial as well.

“I would like to implement a No Tolerance Policy for physical aggression. If a student has been harmful to staff or a student they will not return to the classroom that day,” Shink added.

Another change is at Spruce Mountain Elementary School in Jay. Classes will now start at 7:45 a.m. and end at 2:10 p.m., Principal Pat St. Clair said. The changes are to accommodate a new intervention block and other things needed to get done during the day, he noted.

Earlier in the meeting, St. Clair said the new block would allow for working with students on reading, math, and social or emotional needs without having to take them out of regular instruction. Each grade will have a certain time to work on those needs, he noted.

Behavior hierarchy was also updated now that field trips and similar things are again possible, St. Clair said. “If a student can’t do what is needed at school, I don’t want to take them in public,” he added.

Director Don Emery of Livermore Falls asked how parents are informed when students are bullied at the elementary school.

“Parents should get told the same day,” St. Clair replied. He shares what is known and that it will be investigated. The story can be very convoluted and not be remembered later, he noted.

At Spruce Mountain Middle School in Jay, the online electronic pass system was updated to an automated system, slippers and pajamas added to clothing not allowed during the day, and wrestling was added to activities, Principal Kris Targett said. Another change is that students suspended from school could potentially be removed from a team or club for the remainder of that time period, Targett noted.

Director Jodi Cordes of Jay asked if the glitches with the electronic passes while teachers are not at their computers had been resolved.

“Absolutely,” Targett responded. Students create the pass, the teacher indicates they can leave and there is a sign-out sheet, he added.

At Spruce Mountain High School in Jay, the bell schedule has been changed and there will be two lunch periods, Principal TJ Plourde noted. “The last couple of years there’s been three lunches and it just takes a lot of time out of the classroom,” he said. “We think we can do it now, especially with the new tables, things like that helps out quite a bit.”

The schoolwide late procedure has become more disciplined; multiple tardies could lead to the student not gaining credit for the class. Teachers are to review the new flow chart of the procedure with students, Plourde stated.

Director Roger Moulton of Livermore Falls asked about excused and unexcused absences, and if his daughter would not get credit for her honors class if he, as a parent, decided to take her out of school.

“The state makes us look at what they have and then we can adjust it to where we want it to go,” Plourde replied. “We always have an appeals process for every student that reaches the five, that is for a semester long course. A full year course is 10. … It is rare that a kid would not gain credit.”

In a change to courses, Cordes asked that “all unit deadlines” be clarified.

When the unit starts, the teacher has to tell students when the due date is, post it in the classroom and in PowerSchool, Plourde said. “That way kids have a good understanding when everything is and they are not going, ‘Oh my goodness, it is thrown on me,'” he added.