Hammer hired as new SAD 29 Superintendent

By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
    HOULTON — SAD 29 will have a new superintendent for the start of the next school year.
    Mike Hammer, a principal at Hancock Grammar School since 2003, has been chosen as the new superintendent for SAD 29 (Houlton, Littleton, Monticello and Hammond). Hammer confirmed the appointment Tuesday afternoon in a telephone interview.
    “I love that Houlton is a great, stable school district that is just the right size for providing quality education,” Hammer said. “It’s also hard to find a district that has strong support from its member towns, but SAD 29 has that [support].”
    Hammer has also served as superintendent for the Otis School Department since 2010. The terms of his employment with the district are still being negotiated, Hammer said, but he has “verbally committed” to taking the position and expects to start work in the district by late-June or early-July.
    According to Interim-Superintendent Ray Freve, the school board had two candidates for the position, but chose Hammer after meeting with him in a special board meeting Feb. 23.
    “The night they interviewed the candidates, the board told me they knew who they wanted to fill the position,” Freve said. “My last day will most likely be sometime in June. I will be around to help walk [Hammer] through the district.”
    Freve said he plans to finish putting the district’s budget together for fiscal year 2011-12 and will be on-hand to assist the new superintendent with the transition.
    Once on the job, Hammer will bring stability to a position that has been in flux since Steve Fitzpatrick abruptly resigned from his position July 1. In his stead, the district has used two interim superintendents – Peter Edgecomb and Freve – to help maintain its day-to-day business.
    “I’m looking forward to a new challenge,” Hammer said. “I have heard really good things about the school district from those that I talked to and I am eager to get started.”
    Hammer added he enjoys spending time outdoors – hunting, fishing and snowmobiling. His wife Julie is a physical education teacher at Ellsworth High School. They have two daughters.