Regional School Unit 56 directors and staff meet Tuesday at Dirigo High School in Dixfield where they gave conditional approval for Dirigo Elementary School fifth graders to try out for some T.W. Kelly Middle School sports teams. From left are board Secretary Cyndi Matthews, Directors Kathleen Szostek of Dixfield, Bruce Weld of Dixfield, Liz Kelly of Peru, Brad Dyer of Carthage, Tina Courtway of Peru, Chairperson Barbara Chow of Dixfield, Superintendent Pam Doyen, and Director Natalie Sneller of Canton. Not seen are Directors Joy Bradbury of Peru, Julie Carlow of Peru, Vice Chairperson Carl Lueders of Canton, Bruce Ross of Dixfield and Don Whittemore of Carthage. Marianne Hutchinson/Rumford Falls Times

DIXFIELD — Regional School Unit 56 directors on Tuesday approved allowing Dirigo Elementary School fifth graders to try out for some T.W. Kelly Middle School sports teams, depending on the need or availability of additional team members to fill a team’s roster.

Several board members, speaking at the meeting at Dirigo High School, said it was problematic last year during basketball and other teams’ practices when fifth graders were allowed to join teams that already had high numbers of players.

“Last year I was at the first night of basketball (practices) when 42 or 43 boys were trying to all practice the first night in one gym and I watched coaches that were overwhelmed and kids that were also overwhelmed,” Director Natalie Sneller of Canton said.

She said she had spoken about the issue with school board members during a meeting last year and she’d spoken with the school’s athletic director, telling them she thought the high numbers of players in the gym were a safety issue.

Chairperson Barbara Chow said the middle school had a history of not cutting any students on sports teams. She said money could be an issue because they had to hire assistant coaches and pay for more uniforms, for example. “And it was these kids, all tried out and for a week or two they didn’t have B teams. It was chaotic. … I think it exploded to ‘what do we do?’”

Superintendent Pam Doyen said Sara Thurston, the school’s athletic and activities director, should determine the maximum number of students that could safely play on a team. “We philosophically don’t believe in cutting (students from the middle school teams) but we will cut if numbers are no longer safe.”

In another matter, Dirigo High School teacher Heidi Broomhall said during the public comment that she wants to encourage the board to reevaluate it decision to stop livestreaming the school board meetings should they receive additional funding to pay for it.

The board has livestreamed and recorded its meetings on Zoom and the district’s YouTube page for the past four years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last spring, the board decided to stop livestreaming and recording, among other cost-saving measures, in preparation for its $14.28 million budget for the 2024-25 school year.

“I think that’s a big disservice to the public that we have stopped that, Broomhall said. “I think that it’s important for the public to be able to access meetings, whether that’s by joining a Zoom webinar or just watching it after the fact on the district’s YouTube page.”

She said as a member of the Strategic Planning Committee, they wanted to increase community outreach, and she did not feel that stopping the streaming was a good way to increase community outreach.