RUMFORD – Jim Hodgkin is surprised at just how similar school districts are. Teachers are teachers. Students are students.

Hodgkin, SAD 43’s new superintendent since Aug. 1, is making a transition himself, from principal of Monmouth Middle School to the top position in a 1,610-student school district.

Things have gone well.

“Everyone is anxious about getting back to feeling good. There is continuity at the high school. And within the community, positive feelings and motivated people,” he said.

Although he’s still learning the district, the schools and the people in it, he has already made a few changes. He stays involved in some areas that superintendents may not normally be involved in, believing that a school leader is expected to be a jack-of-all-trades.

“I’m reasonably competent in all areas, but we’ve hired people (in these areas) who are highly competent,” he said.

Among the changes have been moving the administration of students who may require additional help but don’t qualify for special education, from the building principals to the special education director.

He has also tried to impress upon administrators that they are responsible for their departments’ budgets and, at the school board level, he’s streamlined board meetings.

This is being done by setting up occasional workshop sessions where such issues as policy change, academics and communication matters can be discussed.

With four union contracts coming up next June, and one that has expired this year, Hodgkin expects he will be devoting a considerable amount of time to contract work.

“I’ve already sensed a huge change in the working relationships between the superintendent and the union leadership,” he said, adding that his open door policy might be one reason for this.

He practices such a policy with everyone in the district – teachers, educational technicians, bus drivers, nutrition workers and office staff.

By the end of his first, two-year contract, he hopes that all bargaining units will have improved contracts.

His top priority is to retain and recruit qualified staff.

“I see an improved overall climate in school, a high level of trust and support among staff. The important people in the system are the teachers who see students every day,” he said.

Hodgkin, 42, lives in Leeds. For most of his life, he’s been involved in music, from participation in All State Chorus as a student, to singing with a band. He and several friends still get together in the Tom Marshall Band to sing the music of the 1970s and later. When he and his wife, Mary Jo, go out, they enjoy taking part in karaoke. She’s an educator, as well, teaching elementary physical education.

They have four children, ages 2, 3, 9 and 14.

eadams@sunjournal.com

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