EAST MILLINOCKET, Maine — Two educators will work as part-time superintendents for three Katahdin region school systems when they succeed resigning Superintendent of Schools Quenten Clark on April 1, he said Tuesday.
Medway Middle School Principal Dawn Pray will be that town’s superintendent and East Millinocket’s assistant superintendent, while East Millinocket guidance counselor Eric Steeves will be East Millinocket’s superintendent and Medway’s assistant. Steeves will serve as Woodville’s superintendent with Pray assisting him, Clark said.
Pray’s salary will jump from $65,000 to $83,560, and Steeves’ will increase from $36,000 to $71,880. Both have superintendent certifications and will continue to work in their present jobs, Clark said.
“I think the combination is a good one. They get along well, and they have complementary school systems,” Clark said.
The school boards of East Millinocket, Medway and Woodville voted unanimously last week to try the unique arrangement because they felt it will save East Millinocket and Medway schools $7,092 in salary costs. Steeves’ salary represents a $760 savings for East Millinocket, and Pray’s represents a savings of $6,332 for Medway. Woodville’s superintendent costs will be unchanged, Clark said.
The dual superintendent setup also will effectively replace Clark, who worked Mondays through Wednesdays for $62,400 annually, with full-time superintendent coverage of the three towns. That’s something the school boards wanted to see, Clark said.
Clark estimated that hiring another part-time superintendent such as himself would have cost the three school systems at least $15,000 apiece annually at present superintendent rates.
Pray and Steeves are experienced with the new proficiency-based diploma system the Maine Department of Education is implementing at schools statewide. Steeves worked previously in School Administrative District 4 of Guilford, which is one of the first Maine public school systems to attempt first proficiency-based teacher evaluations occurred, and Pray is well-versed in the new system, according to Clark.
Their contracts will lapse on June 30, 2016. The school boards had interviewed six superintendent candidates — Pray, Steeves and four outsiders — before agreeing on the dual setup, Clark said.
When Clark became superintendent in 2011, the three school systems made up Union 113, a designation dropped by the Maine Department of Education when it pushed alternative organizational structures. The three school boards announced their intention to become an AOS in 2011, but they never completed the work required and are known as individual town school systems.