RUMFORD – SAD 43 Superintendent James Hodgkin was expected to be approved as the new superintendent of the Oak Hill Consolidated School District, based in Wales, Wednesday night.

Hodgkin is set to begin his new duties July 1 with a salary of $104,000 the first year. He is up for a three-year contract.

Hodgkin has served SAD 43 for six years, and is also the assistant superintendent of the Western Foothills School District, based in Dixfield. The latter post is expected to be eliminated on July 1.

He earns $92,700 in SAD 43, and another $3,300 as education agent for the unaffiliated town of Hanover.

The Oak Hill school board also agreed to grant the same number of 30 vacation days as SAD 43 as well as add two personal days.

Hodgkin’s new position brings him much closer to his home in Leeds, which is one reason for taking the superintendency. His travel to the SAD 43 central office in Mexico is about 50 minutes. To the central office in Wales, the travel time is 15 minutes.

Oak Hill school system, or Regional School Unit 4, comprises the towns of Litchfield, Sabattus and Wales, and encompasses five elementary schools and one high school. The student enrollment is about 1,800. SAD 43 enrolls just under 1,400 students.

One of the tasks Hodgkin is charged with is to help residents see themselves as one district governed by a nine-member board instead of five school committees or boards.

“I’m excited about it. Consolidation is good for this area. Five school boards were not efficient,” he said.

Hodgkin is also pleased to be returning to an area that is almost home. He is originally from Lisbon.

During his visits to the school system last week to meet the principals and staff and to look at the buildings, he ran into several people who had been his students and are now teaching.

“I’ve been very happy and comfortable here in SAD 43,” he said. He said he hopes to spend his last 12 or 13 years of his career at Oak Hill.

His resignation as assistant superintendent for the Western Foothills School District, or RSU 10, will be taken up Tuesday, May 12.