RICHMOND — After 33 years as a teacher and administrator in Richmond schools, Deborah Smith-Fisk, principal of Richmond High School and Middle School, will leave the district to seek new adventures.
Regional School Unit 2 Superintendent of Schools Virgel Hammonds said Monday that Smith-Fisk’s last day of work will be June 30, when her contract expires. Steve Lavoie, principal at Hall-Dale High School and Middle School, will succeed her.
Earlier this spring, Smith- Fisk notified the Regional School Unit 2 board of her impending resignation, which will take effect at the conclusion of this academic year.
“I’m 56 years old and I could retire because I’ve been in education for 33 years,” she told The Times Record on Monday. “I think over the last year (I came to the realization that) I just want to do something else.”
Additionally, the Brunswick resident said, both of her sons will have graduated from the University of Maine at Farmington by the end of this month. She spoke of how proud she is of them, but also noted that, as one child is about to graduate from college and another is buying a house, her family is in transition.
Thinking back on when she made the decision to move on, “I found myself talking to one of the teachers,” saying, “When I retire, I’m going to do …” Smith-Fisk said. That spurred her to ask, “Why am I waiting for my age to determine what I do?”
She is already looking at two or three options for what she may do next, adding, “I feel excited about the opportunities I see before me. I feel confident about my skills.”
“I love to teach,” she continued. “I knew I’d be a teacher since I was 5.”
As excited as she is about what the future might hold, leaving the Richmond school system won’t be easy.
“I love being a high school principal,” Smith-Fisk said. “It’s just the best job. You meet so many people, see kids growing and blossoming. But it’s very busy. I’ve been here 33 years and know everybody, parents and grandparents. I’ve been blessed being with the school. … It’s so wonderful, and when you love a place so much, it’s hard to know when to let go.”
However, she’s excited that her departure might open the door for young teachers that she hired to assume greater leadership roles.
She didn’t want to leave as Richmond schools consolidated and became part of RSU 2, or when Donald Siviski, the first superintendent of RSU 2, retired in 2011 and Hammonds came on board July 1, 2011.
Smith-Fisk said she’s confident Hammonds “is doing some great things for our kids and the district.”
Smith-Fisk taught at the middle school for 20 years and “once I did that I thought I could do just about anything.” She was then hired as the high school principal and served in that role for about nine years.
Financial constraints led the district to consolidate the high school and middle school principalships in 2009, so she took on that job as well. As a middle and high school principal, she works with kids ages 11 to 20 and a staff of about 35, and said “I just learned so much and so many people have been a part of the things we’ve done.”
She looks back on the former junior high school becoming a middle school, and the high school becoming accredited in May 2007 by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges. There have been so many changes in education she’s been part of, she said it’s been difficult to reflect on all of them.
“There have been so many people who have helped along the way to make the school a very community-based school,” she said. “Parents and businesses have supported us in countless ways — not only financially when people go around asking for donations — but just support in attending our athletic contests and academic celebrations and our music presentations. This community is a very special group of people and I’m just so thankful I was able to be a part of it. I am just very encouraged by looking at all the things we’ve done and the young people who are here, and I think Richmond’s in good shape because raising teenagers is challenging work but the people in this community have stepped up to this challenge and they want to be part of their kids’ lives.”
Hammonds said Monday that Smith-Fisk’s last day will be June 30 when her contract ends.
The replacement
Rather than conducting a search to find Smith-Fisk’s replacement, the RSU 2 board reassigned Lavoie, who once served as principal at Brunswick Junior High School, to the top administrative post at Richmond High School and Middle School.
Lavoie took over as Hall- Dale Middle School principal in 2003, and added Hall-Dale High School oversight in 2008.
Hammonds said the school board can reassign administrators as they see fit, always keeping in mind the best interest of the school and community.
Hammonds said he believes Lavoie and staff in Richmond will get along well, adding, “The idea was to really try to put the right person in the right seat, and the board felt that was it.”
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