SAD 6 school board members offer a thumbs up Tuesday during a workshop discussion about a search for a new superintendent.

BUXTON — The board of directors at School Administrative District 6 Tuesday established a timeline in its search for a superintendent.

The board was to advertise the position Wednesday and picked Feb. 8 as the deadline for submitting applications. At its meeting Monday, Feb. 6, it will appoint a search committee that will include representatives from each of its five towns to conduct candidate interviews.

“That’s the game plan right now,” said Lester Harmon of Hollis, chairman of the SAD 6 board.

The search committee, which is only advisory, could have a recommendation by  March 6, Harmon said.

The SAD 6 board will make the hire. “This board has final say who it employs,” Harmon said.

SAD 6 has functioned several months with an interim superintendent for district, which includes Buxton, Frye Island, Hollis, Limington, and Standish.

Paul Penna, the former Bonny Eagle High School principal, has served as interim superintendent the past several months. Penna succeeded Michael “Mick” Roy, assistant superintenden, who temporarily took the district reins after Frank Sherburne resigned in May during a nepotism controversy.

The issue stemmed from the district hiring Sherburne’s son, Zachariah Sherburne, as an educatuctional technician at Buxton Center Elementary School. After the son’s employment ended at SAD 6, Zachariah Sherburne faced sex charges involving a 16-year old girl in another school district where he had previously worked.  but was exonerated.

The board also hired Elaine Tomaszewski, associate executive director at Maine School Management Association in Augusta, to guide the board through the process.

“The cost for MSMA is $150 an hour,” Harmon said in an email last month to the American Journal. “The bonus to using MSMA is the flexibility in services. The board can pick and choose what they need help with and only pay for that.”

As a step towards hiring a new superintendent, the SAD 6 board surveyed parents, staff and community leaders,  seeking their input on the qualifications and requirements they expect for a superintendent.

Tomaszewski, who was not present at Tuesday’s workshop, did report in a telephone call during the meeting that the district received 458 survey responses. It included 214 from parents; 6, students; 148, employees; and 26, community members.

Robert Deakin of Standish, an SAD 6 board member, said the public should know candidates are aware of survey results.

Harmon said survey results will be posted on its website, www.bonnyeagle.org, and its Facebook page.

Among the comments: A superintendent should have a “thick skin – we’re a tough community,” should be “somebody who isn’t so focused on ‘common core’ curriculum;” “must place parents’ concerns in top priority;” have the ability to “rebuild trust;” and “must be a Trump supporter.”

Robert Lowell can be reached at 854-2577 or [email protected]