The Maine Principals’ Association is in charge of high school athletics across the state. And for the last seven years, Mike Burnham has been at the helm of the Augusta-based organization’s interscholastic sports division.
But that will change in June, with the MPA announcing this week that Burnham will retire at the end of the current school year. The longtime MPA official will be replaced by his current assistant director, Mike Bisson.
Bisson credited Burnham with providing “calm, steady leadership” during his tenure at the helm, which has included the upheaval caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the national attention Maine received as part of the debate about transgender inclusion in athletics.
“He’s navigated us through some really difficult times — certainly COVID, and you know, the onslaught around the transgender issue — to always keep that quiet, calm leadership.”
Burnham has served as the MPA’s interscholastic sports executive director since 2019 after joining the organization as assistant director in 2008, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations. Prior to his time at the MPA, Burnham’s education career at Gardiner Area High School and later Monmouth Academy spanned several roles including teacher, coach, assistant principal, athletic administrator and principal.
Last week, Burnham was recognized as one of 13 people getting a national award from the NFHS, an organization that advocates for high school sports and writes the playing rules that are used across the country. Tbe NFHS Citation that Burnham will receive later in the year, “is one of the most highly regarded achievements in high school athletics,” according to the group.
Bisson also credited Burnham for the growth of unified sports in partnership between the MPA and Special Olympics, which the assistant director said has been “wildly successful across our state.” He also credited the outgoing director for the development of the MPA’s Hall of Excellence, which recognizes individuals for their contributions to education-based athletics in Maine.
“He’s just had an enormous impact on our state and the schools in general,” Bisson said of Burnham.
His replacement, Bisson, is already a familiar face at the MPA and in Maine athletics in general. Bisson became the MPA’s assistant executive director in 2017 after a five-year stint as athletic administrator at Hampden Academy. He had previously served as athletic administrator at Mattanawcook Academy in Lincoln.
“I’m looking forward to it, but I’m really gonna miss the daily conversations with Mike,” Bisson said.
He’s hoping to have the same kind of collaborative working relationship with the next assistant director. That hiring process will begin soon, Bisson said.