Angela Ellingwood, president of the RSU 22 Education Foundation, updated the board on foundation activities, staffing changes, recent mini-grants and a proposed grant-driven initiative to address the local opioid crisis.

Ellingwood said the foundation has rebuilt policies and structures since 2022, named new officers (including Nikki Napp as secretary and Chris Linder as treasurer) and thanked long-serving volunteers Peter Witt and Mary Anne Royal for past service. She said last October's Business and Community Expo raised $2,000 for the foundation's mini-grant program and produced new community partnerships.

The foundation funded two mini-grant projects this year: a Maine Day program at Wetherby School and hands-on math manipulatives for Wagner School's fifth graders. Ellingwood also described community-facing projects such as student-painted window murals done with a local business and a yarn-bombing project at Reedsburg School.

Most prominently, Ellingwood said RSU 22 has an opportunity to pursue an Opioid Recovery Trust Grant to fund an education outreach coordinator and an equipped mobile outreach van that would travel the district to connect families affected by opioid use with resources and services. She said the grant would cover the project for three years with a higher percentage of external funding in year one and a gradual reduction in subsequent years; should the district win the grant the foundation hopes to help cover costs thereafter.

Ellingwood asked the board to help increase foundation visibility, recruit volunteers (including a vice president and school representatives), strengthen in-person outreach to teachers and staff, and connect the foundation with business and alumni networks. She encouraged board members to visit the foundation website for an annual report and contact the foundation with referrals for potential volunteers.