By PATRICK ADRIAN
Special to The Eagle Times
CLAREMONT – Last night the SAU 6 school board began formulating its transition plan to replace Superintendent Middleton McGoodwin, who submitted his official resignation earlier in the meeting.
Following a 20 minute non-public session with the SAU board, McGoodwin announced his resignation as superintendent in a formal letter. His letter included a list of his accomplishments during his six-year tenure as superintendent, which include the establishment of full-day kindergarten; expanding early childhood education programs in Claremont; the renovation of Stevens High School and building of Unity Elementary School; passage of a state criminal background check law for school employees; and clarifying academic expectations across subjects and grades.
The board will try to find an interim superintendent within six weeks. They approved an advertisement for a 12- to 24-month interim superintendent, which the SAU will post through June 28 on online employment sites such as schoolspring.com and edjobs.com. An interim search committee, comprising two SAU board members and at least three SAU administrators, will interview candidates. The board looks to have an interim in place by Aug. 15 or sooner.
The board asked Assistant Superintendent Cory LeClair to serve as acting superintendent. LeClair told the board she is willing to be acting superintendent through the summer. Se said, however, she would not want to hold the role for the entire school year.
“I don’t see that a full-year role would necessarily be in the best interest of the the district,” she said. LeClair also said she would accept on the condition that the board establish clear expectations and terms for her position. “I want the transition to be as smooth as possible and as successful as possible,” she said.
Once an interim is in place the board will begin searching for a long-term superintendent by the fall. Initially the board discussed hiring an interim for two years and beginning a full search next year, but McGoodwin, who had remained silent until this point, advised against waiting too long.
If the SAU has a 24-month interim, it has a holding pattern, where the district does not move forward, McGoodwin said.
The board estimates they will need $90,000 to fund total transition expenditures, including costs to recruit the long-term superintendent, additional compensation for an acting superintendent, and their contract settlement with McGoodwin. The SAU only has $67,907 remaining in its fund balance, after approving $55,000 from the balance to offset costs in 2019-20. SAU Business and Finance Director Mike O’Neill told the board it could move the $55,000 to transition funding.
On May 15 the SAU 6 board voted, 9-0 with one abstention, to terminate McGoodwin’s contract with the SAU. The SAU voted during a non-public session it held at the end of its regular business meeting. Unity board member Margie Erikson cast the vote to abstain.
The board notified McGoodwin on May 22 when SAU Chair Sara Lowe, SAU Vice-chair Michael Petrin and Claremont Chair Frank Sprague delivered a letter of termination to McGoodwin’s office.
According to the letter, the board could terminate McGoodwin’s contract at any time with six months severance pay and one year of health insurance coverage. The board also stated they would discuss additional settlement with McGoodwin at the next SAU meeting in exchange for his resignation.
McGoodwin’s contract with the district ran through the 2020-21 school year.
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