PARIS — Directors of School Administrative District 17 voted unanimously Monday night to accept the immediate resignation of Superintendent Monica Henson.

It comes more than two months after she was placed on administrative leave and nine months after she was hired for the position.

The vote followed a 50-minute executive session by the 21 directors representing eight towns.

Chairwoman Natalie Andrew of West Paris called a motion “to accept Dr. Henson’s resignation, effective immediately, and allow the board chair(woman) to sign a separation agreement negotiated by counsel.” It was accepted, seconded and passed with no comment from the board.

“I look forward to moving forward with the district,” Andrews said after the meeting adjourned. She said no decisions have been made about a search for a new superintendent.

Heather Manchester, who was previously chief curriculum officer, was appointed assistant acting superintendent on Jan. 31.

“I think we are ready to be a stronger Oxford Hills,” said Jeni Jordan, president of Oxford Hills Education Association. “People love the community and they are ready to move forward.”

On Jan. 18, Jordan presented the board with a list of 27 complaints about Henson’s leadership and said the association held a meeting Jan. 11 and “there was an overwhelming response to support a vote of no confidence for Dr. Henson.”

Henson was accused of improperly physically restraining a student at Agnes Gray Elementary School in West Paris in September 2021 when she was filling in for the principal for one day.

The incident resulted in multiple investigations by the Oxford County Sheriff’s Office, the Maine Department of Health and Human Services and within the district.

The Sheriff’s Office has concluded its investigation and forwarded its report to the District Attorney’s Office in Lewiston. The DHHS investigation continues.

Andrews said she could not comment on the status of the district’s internal investigation, which is being conducted by district lawyer Tom Trenholm of Drummond Woodsum.

Henson told the Associated Press on Tuesday that she was a victim of a “character assassination campaign,” and that she and her attorney are weighing options for action against those responsible for promoting “false narratives.” The investigations “have not, as we knew they would not, yielded substantiation of the outrageous lies that have been told,” she said.

The mother of the student involved in the altercation, Ashley Rowe of West Paris, said by phone Monday night she is not sure how to feel about the resignation announcement.

“I do not know the circumstances of her resigning,” Rowe said.

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