Letter to the Editor: Thank you Tina Meserve

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I’m writing to you today to publicly thank Tina Meserve for the dedication and hard work that she has given to RSU 9. Though this letter is my own personal opinion, I had the honor of working with her as a School Board Member, and Chair of RSU 9 School board from 2018-2020. As Board Members we are elected into office to oversee the management of our Schools. We also act as the employer to the Superintendent. Over the last few months our District has weathered a lot. I’ve been reflecting on the many successes that both Ms. Meserve and the other staff members have accomplished and the difficulties that they have endured. And, I want to express my gratitude toward all.
Unfortunately, last night Ms. Meserve resigned from her position. I believe we will be hard pressed to find another Superintendent with her level of professionalism and devotion to our District. Many of us, are extremely saddened to see her go. Tina has spent 2.5 years raising the bar for RSU 9 by bringing transparency, accountability, and security to the staff, students, and community members. I am writing to you, to thank Ms. Meserve, and to share with the community how much she accomplished in a very short time.

• She has assisted the board in delivering a reduced financial impact budget to local taxpayers for both years she has been with us.
• Tina has increased transparency and public input in budgets by having additional forums letting the Board get community feedback and more direct communication on expenditures in the District.
• In 2019 Tina identified, and addressed, with the RSU 9 Board of Directors a $2.2 million shortfall to the State of Maine. This had gone unaddressed in the District for about 10 years.
• She has implemented a very aggressive policy revision plan. In which the Board and Tina reviewed and updated policies that had been in place for 15+ years or that were no longer meeting Federal and/or State Regulations.
• Tina secured contracted services for a 5-year Strategic Plan. This ensured that the District will be making intentional choices to meet the united goals of all Stakeholders, including, Teachers, Community Members, RSU 9 Administration, Staff Members, Students, and Board Members.
• Managed the creation of an Evaluation System for Principals and Directors in the District.
• Instituted regular, formatted, Board updates from herself, Principals, and other Directors to the Board Members.
• She drew attention to Chronic Absenteeism in our District with Students and Staff.
• Tina assisted in expansion of programs at Foster Tech.
• Supported Collaboration with the community to see the finalization of the HAZMAT Training Facility Building.
• During her first year in RSU 9, Tina was interviewed on NPR with other selected Superintendents in the State. The discussion topic that afternoon was about finding pathways to remote learning and about the future of education. Her forward-thinking preparations allowed the District to be more nimble a year later when the District had to move to remote learning due to a Global Pandemic.
• She has successfully implemented the Boards vision of having Social Workers and Board-Certified Behavior Analysts available in our schools for the PALS program.
• She has increased Public Relations through Social Media work, both with Facebook notifications, and updates to our Websites.
• In partnership with our Curriculum Coordinator she has championed updating the standards of education in the district with measurable rubrics in Proficiency Based Education (PBE).
• After Tinas first year in the District and implementation of PBE, student test scores rose significantly across RSU 9.
• During one of the most challenging time periods our District has ever faced, a Global Pandemic, Tina safely closed schools. She accomplished this while maintaining sources of education for the kids and a source of employment for Staff members.
• She worked with our Food Services Director and our bus drivers to ensure no kids went hungry, in 10 towns, during a pandemic.
• She instituted Safety Committees and Virtual Forums to hear from all stakeholders and find the best pathway that schools could reopen successfully and safely.
• During uncertain times, she spent days in meetings with other Superintendents/DOE/CDC to wade through the uncharted waters of a pandemic and make sure she was taking care of all employees and students.
• She has allocated resources from 2 Pandemic funds to allow for thoughtful spending. Which enabled every student in the district to get electronic devices for a remote learning pathway.
• In collaboration with the District Admin Team she has had every school reviewed to replace any desks that don’t meet the additional spacing requirements for social distancing.
• Tina implemented use of a portion of the Pandemic funds to move the Adult Ed into a newer facility. The new building allowed the Adult Ed programs to continue while meeting the necessary air quality standards needed to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
• She has used Pandemic funding to expand the middle school parking lot to allow for increased social distancing at the pickup/drop off location.
• She has worked with the Administration team to update the Fleet of Busses in our District.
• She has Increased sanitation standards in RSU 9.
• She set up meetings and facilitated tours of our District to Board Members and Local Legislators. She has brought in the offices of Federal Senate and House Representatives, our Governor’s Office, the Department of Education, and other State Legislators to review possible education improvements for every district in the State and to proudly show the good work of our District.
• And, Tina has done this all while doing other maintenance work in the district, like communicating with the Town managers/safety committees, other superintendents, fielding all review/redaction requirements of FOA requests, meeting with Principals/Directors/Teachers/Parents and Community Members, worked on 2 different contract negotiations, and making sure to have traffic studies done at our schools to find ways to prevent bottle necking at pick up/drop off times.

I could go on even longer to tell you the positive small interactions and work that I have seen from Tina. Often through the sacrifice of her sleep, time with her family, evenings, weekends, and/or vacation time to make sure our District was taken care of. Or, I could gladly talk to you more about the excitement I saw her radiate when she had the opportunity to read to a classroom of kids. We are going to miss her for a number of reasons. There are so many small decisions behind the scenes that she has made that has benefited and impacted all of us. I want to thank her from the bottom of my heart for her leadership through such a difficult time.
I have been so proud of the work that the Board, Tina, and Admin Team has done these past 2.5 years. I truly believe that Ms. Meserve has been a great asset to this District. I respect her decision and see this as yet another sacrifice she has made for RSU 9 to move forward in a positive direction.

Thank you for letting me remind all of us about her many accomplishments,

Cherieann Harrison
Wilton

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