Page 3 - Newsletter_Spring_2020

RSU #29

Collaboration Brings

About New Opportunities

in RSU 29

Ellen Halliday, Superintendent of RSU 29 has embraced
collaborative and innovative opportunities since beginning her
tenure five years ago.

In 2017, the Maine Department of Education offered a grant opportunity for districts to apply for
regional projects. Halliday worked with her neighboring districts (MSAD 70 – Hodgdon, MSAD 14 – East
Grand, RSU 50 – Southern Aroostook) and Region Two Applied School of Technology to complete an
application for a grant of $415,000.00 to develop
a transportation facility. The grant was approved
and the Southern Aroostook Area Transportation
Facility began operating in August of 2018. A
potato storage facility, formally owned by Triple
M, Inc. was purchased and renovated as a bus
repair facility. The collaborative (now known as
the Southern Aroostook Area Regional Service
Center) retained Joe Schneider as the Regional
Transportation Supervisor, hired a mechanic and
a second employee, and began servicing a fleet of
Collaborative Bus Garage over seventy (70) vehicles. This innovative and
collaborative effort has saved significantly on the
cost of labor and parts for all of the members involved. In addition, the buses are inspected on site and
extensive maintenance and repair logs help to provide continuity in service and safety.

The Department of Education offered districts the opportunity to form Regional or Educational Service
Centers in 2018. Halliday and the same members involved in the regional transportation facility, banded
together and applied to be approved as the Southern Aroostook Area Regional Service Center (SAARSC).
This new designation allows the districts to receive additional state funding as they realize efficiencies
through collaboration. Superintendent Halliday acts as the Executive Director of the SAARSC.

RSU 29 and their regional partners were awarded another Efficiency Grant in 2018 when they applied for
$570,000.00 for a regional alternative education program. Utilizing the grant funding, the collaborative
purchased and renovated the former Military Street Baptist Church. This program, named The Summit

www.houltonalumni.com PAGE 3