OXFORD – After an executive session Monday, the SAD 17 Board of Directors agreed to extend the employment contract of Superintendent Mark Eastman through June 30, 2009.

“When you have able superintendents, it’s always in the interest of the board to try to retain them,” said SAD 17 Assistant Superintendent Mark LaRoach.

Eastman, 59, has 20 years’ experience as a superintendent, 10 of them at SAD 17.

A year ago, the board voted to extend Eastman’s contract through June 30, 2008.

A school board can extend a contract for up to five years, LaRoach said.

“It’s become a very competitive market for superintendents,” he said, with the average tenure of a superintendent at any given school district only three to five years.

Eastman’s salary agreement is up for a two-year renewal in June. His salary was $98,000 in 2003-2004 and is $100,000 in 2004-2005, not including benefits.

Eastman’s salary ranks him among the top 20 highest-paid superintendents in the state. SAD 17 is the sixth-largest school district in terms of enrollment.

“This board has been very fair to me in terms of compensation,” Eastman said in a Monday interview. “I anticipate ending my career here.”

The only factor that might change those plans is his family, he said.

He and his wife have one child living in Cincinnati, and another living outside Toronto.

“That’s quite a draw,” he said.

But he loves Maine, he said, and especially the Oxford Hills region. He began his job at SAD 17 on Dec. 5, 1995, after being named Superintendent of the Year while serving SAD 42 in Mars Hill.

Eastman said he is technically eligible to retire next year, at age 60.

But he said he plans to continue working for as long as his health remains good and he feels he can make a positive contribution to the district.