Negotiations for new superintendent begin
PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — SAD 1’s superintendent search committee was given the green light last Wednesday night to begin negotiating a contract with Tonya Arnold of Lovell.
According to Lucy Richard, board chair and member of the search committee, the full school board unanimously voted in executive session to authorize the start of the negotiation process for a new superintendent.
“Then we’ll have to come back and vote on the contract next month,” said Richard.
Arnold is currently the principal at Lake Region Middle School in Naples.
“This would be her first job as superintendent,” said Richard, “but she holds a Maine superintendent of school’s certificate and has a certificate in advanced study in educational leadership.
“She comes with some good skill sets,” she said. “This will be good for the district.”
Arnold will replace Gehrig Johnson, who has been the superintendent for 30 years. He will retire Dec. 31. Arnold’s anticipated start date is Jan. 1, 2015.
Though lengthy, Richard said the search process “went really well.”
“We went through the Maine School Management Association (MSMA) and they really helped us through this process,” she said. “It was a long process; I had MSMA come in January, and we started our meetings in February. I’m happy we found a qualified candidate, and look forward to finishing up the process.”
During the evening’s regular board meeting, directors:
• Were given a brief update on the completed summer projects.
“Last summer was the major push for projects,” said Johnson, “however, we did have a few things that were done this summer. We replaced three big sets of doors at Presque Isle High School, did a lot of painting system-wide, and asbestos was removed and new floors were laid down in three classrooms at Zippel Elementary School.”
• Were notified that there may be a need to start another pre-K section at Pine Street Elementary School.
“As of today [Sept. 3], we have 11 names on a waiting list,” Johnson said. “Four of them have agreed to go to Mapleton Elementary School. We’ll keep an eye on it the first few days of school and will then make a decision. Usually if we have 10-11 kids, we start another division, so that may be something we’ll need to do.”
The next regular SAD 1 board meeting will be Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2014 at 5:30 p.m. at Mapleton Elementary School.
