FREEPORT, Maine — The chief academic officer for the Portland School Department has been named superintendent of schools for Regional School Unit 5, including Durham, Freeport and Pownal.
Becky J. Foley was unanimously elected from two finalists, chosen from an original field of 19 applicants, according to a release from the school district’s board of directors.
Foley will begin in the position on July 1 with a salary of $128,000, according to RSU 5 board Chairwoman Michelle Ritcheson. She succeeds Edward McDonough, who resigned in March after one year. McDonough earned $120,000 for the 2015-16 school year, Ritcheson said.
“Becky Foley is an outstanding educator and experienced administrator,” Ritcheson said in the release. “We are confident that her leadership will move RSU 5 forward to even higher levels of achievement.”
Foley holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from the University of Maine at Farmington, a master’s degree in educational administration from the University of Southern Maine, and a doctor of philosophy degree in public policy, also from USM.
Before serving as Portland’s chief academic officer, Foley was assistant superintendent of schools in Maine School Administrative District 52, including Turner, Leeds and Greene; principal of North Yarmouth Memorial School in SAD 51, including Cumberland and North Yarmouth; and a classroom teacher, principal and assistant principal in Turner, according to the release.
Before McDonough’s one-year term as superintendent, two interim co-superintendents, Michael LaFortune and William Michaud, led the district from July 2014 to August 2015.
Foley did not return a phone call seeking comment on Tuesday.