STACYVILLE, Maine — With the start of school less than a month away, the RSU 50 board has made changes to its administrative staff for the next school year.
The board accepted the resignation of Christine Cunningham as principal of Katahdin Elementary School. Her departure comes a month after Margaret (Peggy) White resigned as elementary principal at Southern Aroostook Community School.
Those moves leave the district with just one principal, Jon Porter, with school set to begin Tuesday, Sept. 6. For the past two years, Porter has served as high school principal for both SACS and Katahdin.
According to Superintendent Todd LeRoy, the district will make a change to its administrative team and Porter will now serve as the pre-K-12 principal for SACS. The district is also seeking a pre-K-12 principal for Katahdin Middle-High and Elementary schools.
“Rather than continue having Jon [Porter] go back and forth between Southern Aroostook and Katahdin High schools, we have decided to make this change,” LeRoy said. “I think you can get away with it a little bit more at the elementary level. The greatest need we have for leadership is in the high school areas.”
LeRoy added both Cunningham and White did exceptional jobs as elementary principals and he was sad to see them leave. Cunningham was with the district for 12 years, while White had six years’ experience. Porter has been with the district for 11 years.
“We now need someone who will be at Katahdin full-time and work with the staff there,” LeRoy said. “Having someone there, particularly at the high school, will be in our best interests.”
The realignment will also allow the district to trim down the administration, which LeRoy said has been a point of contention for some taxpayers.
The district has several applications already on file and LeRoy said he expects they will receive a few more in the coming days. The administrative team will review those resumes and he plans to conduct interviews next week, with the hope of filling the position before the start of the new school year.
