RUMFORD – The SAD 43 board was asked Monday night to consider having one principal for the two elementary schools instead of one.
“There is a need for full coverage, but I’m not sure it needs two principals,” Superintendent Jim Hodgkin said.
Under the proposal, there would be an assistant principal.
Currently, Ann Chamberlin leads Rumford Elementary School and Scott Drown heads Meroby Elementary School. The two kindergarten-through-grade-five schools have a combined student population of about 600.
Hodgkin said the possible move is not due to budget considerations; instead, it would be an attempt to provide similar methodologies and services.
“Maybe there would be more success if there was one leadership voice to address some concerns,” he said, declining to elaborate.
Rita Aromaa, a teacher at Meroby, was among a half-dozen elementary teachers who turned out for Monday’s board meeting.
“We just heard about this today, and it gives us concerns. We hope you’ll weigh both sides. By combining the principals into one, you’re making it pretty thin,” she said of the potential for a single administrator to meet all the responsibilities.
She also expressed concerns about the amount of support a future young teaching staff may need from an administrator, and the possibility that one of the schools may be without a principal or assistant principal at times.
Vicki Amoroso, a Rumford Elementary School teacher, said she wanted a principal who was readily accessible to teachers, children and parents. She questioned whether one administrator could provide such accessibility.
Hodgkin said he has met with the administrative bargaining unit to discuss the possible change and plans to meet with the staffs of both elementary schools within a few days. He said after the meeting that a clause in the contracts of administrators allows for position reductions when administrative structure changes.
“This would be a philosophical change, to create more consistency in the two buildings,” he said.
If the board agrees to the change, it would go into effect during the upcoming school year.
The matter will likely be discussed by the board during the next few meetings. A decision will be made later in the spring.
In other matters, the board approved school bus transportation for a senior class trip to Portland for a Casco Bay cruise on June 7.
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