RUMFORD — A six-member Superintendent Search Committee was established Monday night when many of the RSU 10 board met with Superintendent Tom Ward to organize the effort.

With a tight time frame to find a suitable replacement for Ward, the committee will meet Wednesday afternoon to select the members of the school district and community who will serve on the Interview Committee.

The Search Committee will also set dates for public informational meetings to receive input from staff and the public on the characteristics and attributes they would like to see in a new superintendent.

Ward will leave RSU 10 on June 30 to become superintendent of neighboring RSU 9 in Farmington. He has led RSU 10 for all four years of its existence. Before that, he was superintendent of the former SAD 21, which is now a part of RSU 10.

The Search Committee will be co-chaired by RSU 10 board Chairman Jerry Wiley of Buckfield, and assistant superintendent and curriculum coordinator of RSU 10, Gloria Jenkins.

Other committee members are Maida Demers-Dobson, Buckfield, who chairs the Personnel Committee; Betty Barrett, Mexico, who chairs the Finance Committee; Barbara Chow, Dixfield, chairwoman of the Policy Committee; and Canton board member, Faith Campbell.

The full board heard a presentation from a representative of Maine School Management Association last week on the process for choosing a superintendent. MSMA will also assist in the superintendent search.

Wiley said the Search Committee may have a recommendation for the make-up of the Interview Committee at the board’s regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. Monday, March 25, at Dirigo Elementary School in Peru.

Ward said the district will likely need an interim superintendent, and added that there are many well-qualified retired superintendents available throughout the state.

“An interim can be hired month-to-month, or week-to-week,” he said.

The tentative timeline for filling Ward’s position includes an application deadline of  April 5. The applications will be sent to the MSMA, which will forward qualifying candidates’ paperwork to the Search Committee. From April 12 to April 19, the committee will review the applications and choose candidates to be interviewed.

The first round of interviews will be held from April 26 to May 3. A second round of interviews for any finalists will be scheduled May 3-10. If all goes well, a contract will be negotiated between May 13 and May 17, with a target date for filling the position of Aug. 1.

The position will be advertised for two weeks through MSMA sources, ServingSchools.com and two or three Maine newspapers.

Ward said the committee should consider whether they want to hire from outside of Maine.

“We have not had a good history of hiring out-of-state,” he said. “They leave soon.”