AUBURN – Tom Morrill, 56, will replace Auburn School Superintendent Barbara Eretzian when she retires June 30, the Auburn School Committee voted Wednesday night.

Morrill was named as acting superintendent in a 7-0 committee vote. There was no discussion.

Morrill’s position is temporary. A permanent superintendent is not being hired in light of Gov. John Baldacci’s proposal to eliminate more than 80 percent of superintendents in Maine by consolidating school districts.

Morrill’s assistant superintendent job is not being filled at least for a year, said committee Chairman David Das. That work will be filled by existing staff.

Morrill has served as assistant superintendent in Auburn since 2003, and has more than 30 years experience in education.

During an interview Wednesday, Morrill said as interim superintendent his top goals will be:

• To maintain and build on what makes Auburn schools special. In Auburn, “Students know that the adults around them and classmates care for them,” Morrill said. “There’s a genuine interest in what student strengths, needs and hopes are, and programs are built to support those.”

• Increasing the level of every student’s achievement. Expectations for all students are on the rise, which requires a different organization. One way to improvement achievement will be through technology. “Students we’re educating are a visual generation,” Morrill said. “They’re coming from a place quite unlike others. It’s important to see that” and create learning opportunities for them.

• Collaborating and consolidating with other school districts, and implementing cost savings measures. Auburn will aggressively pursue consolidations and joint purchases on everything from supplies to fuel to sharing specialized courses, he said.

Morrill said he’ll also work to gain state-approved funding to build a new high school.

Auburn applied to the state in its last round of funding applications, “and it was not rated very high, which absolutely shocked us,” Morrill said. The existing school is 40 years old. “It’s a very old, tired building,” Morrill said. “People work hard to make the best of it,” but it lacks the room and resources today’s students need, he said.

Morrill has been a principal for most of his career. From 1998 to 2003, he was principal of Fairview Elementary School in Auburn. Previously, he had been principal at the W.G. Mallett School in Farmington, the Kingfield Elementary School, and the Stratton Elementary School. From 1975 to 1982, he taught at Kingfield Elementary School.

Morrill received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the University of Southern Maine. He’s done other postgraduate study at the University of Maine at Farmington and the University of Washington.

He is married to Leslie Morrill, an assistant principal at Edward Little High School. They are the parents of two, and live in Auburn.