FARMINGTON – The Mt. Blue Regional School District school board elected officers for the next year and unanimously approved the hiring of a new assistant principal and a athletic director at Tuesday’s meeting.
Director Jennifer Zweig-Hebert of Starks was reelected as the board chair by a unanimous vote of the board. Director Betsey Hyde of Temple was reelected as the board vice chair.
Three directors were appointed to the finance committee: Director Scott Erb of Farmington, Director Jennifer Pooler of New Sharon and Director Ryan Morgan of Farmington. Only that committee requires board appointment; Zweig-Hebert said that she was reviewing director preferences for all of the other district committees and would have proposed assignments ready by the next meeting.
The board approved several hirings, including two administrator positions. Chad Brackett was hired as the interim full-time athletic director at the Mt. Blue Campus. Brackett, previously a social studies teacher at the high school, was the committee’s top choice according to Superintendent Thomas Ward. Brackett’s grandfather was the district’s first athletic director at Mt. Blue when it opened in 1968.
Joel Smith, the assistant principal/athletic director at Mt. Blue Middle School was hired as the new assistant principal at the Mt. Blue Campus.
Both of those hires fill positions in accordance with the interim restructuring of the Mt. Blue Campus administration that was approved by the board at its last meeting.
The restructuring allows for two full-time assistant principal positions and a full-time athletic director position. Currently, one of the assistant principal positions, held by Todd Demmons, also served as the athletic director.
The salaries for Brackett and Smith are in line with the amounts presented to the board at the previous meeting, Ward said. Smith’s assistant principal position, responsible for the freshmen and sophomore classes on campus, had a proposed salary of $75,756. Brackett’s athletic director position had a proposed salary of $60,000.
Another part-time assistant athletic director position and the director of guidance positions will not be filled. In doing so, district officials said, there’s no additional cost involved in the shift of positions.
Other hirings confirmed by the board included Olivia Brown as a fifth-grade teacher at Cascade Brook School, Karen Jacques as a social worker and Katherine Spahr as a second grade teacher at Academy Hill School. Among the accepted resignations was Karen Jenkins, a longtime school nurse, and Cheryl Fisher, a social worker associated with the day treatment program. Director Iris Silverstein of Farmington asked that letters of appreciation be submitted to both employees for their long service to the district.
Glad to see things going as previously promised. Too bad there wasn’t a change in the chairs. Give someone else a chance and the experience of having been……?
Congratulations Mr Brackett! On a sad note you will be missed as a teacher. With that being said, is your new position the reason Freshmen who were scheduled to take Humanities are not longer showing that on their schedules and are instead showing Social Studies and English as new classes?
Parent…do you really think that is a question you will get answered here??????? Thats a question for the High School not for the masses of the Daily Bulldog….
F.Y.I. The doors to Mt. Blue High school didn’t open until the fall of 1969. The first graduating class was in 1970. Check your records.