SALEM –- At a MSAD #58 school board meeting July 29, school board director Alan Morse said that discussions between his district and MSAD #74 were going well.

Morse updated his full board with the recent discussions between the subcommittees of both districts. At the end of the night, both districts decided to sign a contract that would share MSAD #58 special education director Laureen Olsen. This is the first ever attempt to share services between two districts which have a county line between them.

The savings will amount to $35,000 for MSAD #58 even after giving Olsen a $12,000 pay increase for the added workload. The new half-time position will cost the district $49,000 per year. The contract has a 90-day trial period should either district decide to opt out.

Both school boards were unanimous in their decision on the night of July 29. MSAD #58 board members did show concern that their special education program could suffer with only a half-time director.

Superintendent Quenten Clark noted that the savings were needed given the grim financial forecast ahead. “It’s one less teacher you have to toss overboard next year, and you guys are really bad at tossing teachers overboard,” Clark said. “No one likes doing that.”

Olsen, who started with the district two years ago, said she developed programs which will now allow her to spend less time in the classroom and more time as an administrator. She explained she will duplicate this management practice in her new role with MSAD #74. Olsen told board members that she was comfortable with any decision made and was confident that she’d be able adapt to the new role.

Morse and others said they would vote for the change but had reservations over concerns that the program would suffer.

“For SAD 58, it’s all about the money,” Clark said. MSAD #74 has shared the position with Bingham-based MSAD #13 over the past two years. That contract was terminated when special education director Patrick Willihan retired at the end of the school year. Directors asked Olsen to come back to the board if she became stretched too thin to which she agreed. Members also noted that although they were concerned that they’d lose value in their special education program, it is a worthwhile step in creating possible future agreements between the districts.

In other business, members discussed using a superintendent’s search through Maine School Board Association. Although Clark has not given an official date of retirement yet, Morse is pushing for a superintendent search so they have adequate time to find the right individual.

Morse explained that the cost for the superintendent search is $1,000 and another possible $1,000 for advertising the position in both the Bangor and Portland newspapers.
“They might have a good sense of who to approach of those who are looking for a job and those who are not,” Morse said. For those not looking for a job, Morse said, “that’s worth its weight in gold.”

Morse read a MSMA document which said, “The most important decision a school board makes is the selection of a superintendent.” The documents said that two to three months are typically needed to find a new superintendent.

“After hearing about the superintendent search at our last fall conferences, it sound like it is well worth the money,” said Kingfield director Judy Dill.
“Things have changed dramatically in the marketplace since the 1990s,” Clark explained. “You need their help. You need these people,” he said.