RSU 50 hires Doe

    STACYVILLE, Maine — The RSU 50 school board has a new interim superintendent to help forge the new school union between CSD 9 (Island Falls, Crystal, Dyer Brook, Merrill, Oakfield and Smyrna) and SAD 25 (Stacyville, Patten, Sherman and Mount Chase).
    John Doe, the current superintendent at SAD 25, was unanimously approved as the new interim superintendent during a special board meeting Tuesday, May 31 at Katahdin Elementary School. About 17 individuals attended the meeting.
Doe, who retired from SAD 25 last June, was brought back to the district for one additional year in order to help see the consolidation process through. He will be paid $400 per day for his services. He has said he would not seek the new superintendent’s position for RSU 50. The new RSU will have a combined student population of 824 students, according to the state Department of Education website.
The actual creation of RSU 50 does not fully go into effect until July 1. Both the CSD 9 and SAD 25 school boards will cease to exist on June 30.
The RSU board was created after voters approved the consolidation plan in February. The merger of the two school districts narrowly passed a referendum vote. In SAD 25, the measure was approved 149-117, while in CSD 9, the vote was even closer with 91 voting “yes” and 81 voting “no.”
Once the consolidation plan was approved, the next step was to elect board members. That election took place in early May and the following individuals were elected to the board: Peter Main of Crystal; Barbara Burton of Dyer Brook; Mary Moore of Hersey; Scot Walker and Stephen Walker both of Island Falls; Cynthia Bartman of Merrill; Christine Loucka of Moro Plantation; Rhoda Houtz, Mount Chase; Nicole Cullinan and Jeff Hardy, both of Oakfield; Craig Hartsgrove and Leslie Gardner, both of Patten; Philip Knowles and Kim Lane, both of Sherman; Arden Williams of Smyrna; and Constance Theriault of Stacyville.
Each board member was elected to serve a three-year term, except that the initial terms of the members of the initial RSU Board was staggered so that six of the directors serve three 3-year terms, five of the initial directors serve two 2-year terms and five of the initial directors serve a 1-year term. The new board will also have a weighted vote system in order to provide the most equity between the two school districts.
Knowles was elected by the group to serve as chairman. The group also recognized the efforts of CSD 9 Superintendent Terry Comeau in helping keep the transition going smoothly.
“I just want to take the time to thank Terry personally,” said board member Arden Williams. “We were really under the gun and he really helped me. From the kindness of his heart, Terry took exactly zero dollars from the stipend fund that was set up for this RSU. I thank you for your service.”
Comeau had been serving as the co-interim superintendent with Doe, but stepped down from that role in late May.
A search for a permanent superintendent is expected to begin shortly. The board met with a representative of the Maine School Management Association during last Tuesday’s meeting. This representative went over some of the criteria the new RSU should use when advertising, interviewing and ultimately choosing a new superintendent.
The board was told to realistically expect the hiring process to take anywhere from six months to a year.
The RSU board may also be taking action on its 2011-12 school budget at a special meeting Tuesday, June 7. Attempts to get an advance copy of the budget were not successful by presstime.