By Wayne E. Rivet

Staff Writer

While other school systems across Maine struggle to fill teaching vacancies and recruit bus drivers, SAD 61 opened the new year in “great shape” on all employment fronts.

“We’re ready to go,” Superintendent Al Smith said following Monday’s School Board meeting where a full list of new staff, including two administrators, were approved.

SAD 61 was short just two special education teachers and four ed techs, Smith reported.

Directors approved the nomination of Danielle Arn as the new principal at Songo Locks Elementary School in Naples, and Tracy Smith as new Director of Special Services.

Arn replaces Bridget DelPrete, who resigned effective Aug. 9, but will remain at SLS as an interim administrator until Sept. 18.

Arn was a teacher in the Lawrence (Mass.) public school system for seven years before moving to SAD 61 in 2019. She was a teacher and Academic Leader for five years, then assuming the principal’s post this month.

Smith replaces Carla Gill, who left the post prior to the end of the last school year. Smith was named interim director of Special Services in May, and now takes over the special education program. She started as a special ed teacher and became Special Ed Instructional Coach/IEP Coordinator, serving in that role for nearly 16 years.

Travis Burleigh, who was a Title 1 teacher at Crooked River Elementary, was approved as the new Academic Leader at Songo Locks Elementary and CRES. There were four applicants for the job, two candidates were interviewed.

Arn and Smith, along with Valerie Young who is the new principal at Stevens Brook Elementary, continued a trend in SAD 61 of educators who worked their way up the ladder and ultimately landed leadership positions. Courtney Smith, who previously was the SBES principal, is now the Assistant Superintendent.

“We have a lot of talented, smart people right here in our system, so we like to give them a chance to pursue these opportunities,” Superintendent Smith said. “There are a number of advantages to hiring from within. They know the district. They know the staff. They want to be here. And, they can hit the ground running.”

Over the past few years, SAD 61 has had 11 administrative changes — and just one candidate (Steve Gagne, Crooked River Elementary principal) came from outside of the system. A few examples include Maggie Thornton moving up from assistant principal to Lake Region H.S. principal, and Holly Wilson filling the assistant principal post at LRHS, then crossing over to Lake Region Middle School last year as its new principal.

Superintendent Smith is a big proponent of “growing your own administrators” because he too followed a similar path.

After working six years as a teacher, Smith decided he needed a career change. He left the classroom for a job in chemical/industrial research and development. For seven years, he traveled across the country. Eventually, he was lured back to teaching, but found an interest in the administrative side of education, leading to a job as Superintendent of Schools.

“Promoting from within also provides incentive for others,” Smith said. “We’ve had a lot of success finding the right candidates right here. A lot of credit also goes to the School Board, recognizing we do have talented individuals who are ready to take these leadership roles.”

School Board notes

Ready to Roll. On the bus driver front, initially SAD 61 had to reconfigure its two routes due to the number of drivers the district has. But, the driver roster has five newcomers, who within a few months of experience and learning routes, could result adding a few routes. Smith noted SAD 61 should be set on drivers needed for athletic team trips.

“A number of people are willing to do part-time runs, such as sports trips, but don’t want to be full-time,” he said. “Some other school districts run into trouble with drivers because they’re not full-time, they get 25 to 30 hours. We have full-time drivers.”

Hunting State Dollars. For the first time in nearly seven years, Maine’s Department of Education is kick-starting its construction program. And like 74 others, Director of Facilities, Maintenance and Food Service Andy Madura wants to see if SAD 61 can secure state money to address facilities issues here.

The state is currently funding four projects, but is seeking applications by Aug. 30 for potential new construction proposals. Madura has been working with Facilities Committee members and Stephen Blatt Architects to develop a proposal to address deficiencies at the high school and vocational center.

In 2012, a variety of improvements were made at the high school, which was built in 1968. Madura said 50% of the building was worked on, and the remaining 50% is the target of SAD 61’s proposal. Areas of need include the gym, locker rooms and more educational space to replace portable units (currently housing freshmen classes) that have long exceeded the expected lifespan.

“We have an auditorium that isn’t big enough to accommodate our school population,” Madura said. “We renovated the vocational center in 2012, but there is no room to expand our programming.”

While there is no dollar figure attached to SAD 61’s project at this point with more fine tuning expected, Madura did receive School Board approval to put forth an application and see what happens.