NORWAY – No one has taken out nomination papers for an upcoming vacancy on the SAD 17 Board of Directors, Town Clerk Shirley Boyce said Wednesday.

Longtime director Dy-Anne Gurney will step down in June.

Nomination papers are due at the town clerk’s office by Monday at 5 p.m. so names can be placed on the June 9 election ballot.

Boyce said Russ Newcomb has taken out nomination papers for the Board of Selectmen; Stephen Cummings for the second Norway representative to the SAD 17 Board of Directors; Dennis Yates for fire chief; and Carolyn Costanzi and Steve Veazey for Norway Memorial Library trustees.

Boyce said all nomination papers have been returned except for Cummings and Costanzi. All candidates are incumbents, except for Yates, who serves as deputy chief. Fire Chief Mike Mann is retiring after decades on the force.

Gurney, who has served on the SAD 17 Board of Directors for 19 years, said it is time for her to step down.

“I am really hoping a young parent gets involved,” she said of her replacement.

Gurney said the time commitment was never a problem, but probably the hardest thing she had to do on the board was sit in on student expulsion hearings.

“It’s really, really, really hard to do them,” she said. “It doesn’t seem to get any easier.”

Gurney said one of the best things she saw while on the board was the dedication of the staff.

She said she saw how much the staff cares about the schools when they pledged a day’s pay to keep some of the staff from being laid off this year.

“They really came through,” Gurney said.

As far as what she will do with her additional time, Gurney said that’s easy. “I’m going to see my grandchildren,” she said.

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