WATERBORO – MSAD 6 Superintendent of Schools Frank Sherburne resigned on the heels of controversy that included violation of the district’s nepotism policy.
After a lengthy executive session, the school board voted to accept Sherburne’s resignation around 11:15 p.m. Monday night.
Sherburne, whose five year contract was to expire June 30, 2019, was given a $40,000 severance package.
Assistant Superintendent of Schools Michael Roy was appointed the Interim Superintendent.
“We believe that is in the best interest of our school district, its employees, its students, and the community at large to finally resolve this matter as soon as possible,” said School Board Chairwoman Rebecca Bowley. “The severance agreement that we negotiated with the superintendent will avoid a protracted legal battle with associated legal costs and divisiveness and will bring closure to this matter and allow the board to turn its attention on to important issues facing our district.”
The school board voted last week that the district’s nepotism policy was violated when Sherburne’s son, Zachariah Sherburne, was hired as an educational technician at Buxton Central Elementary. Zachariah Sherburne, 23, worked at the school from Feb. 8 through March 11.
In March, MSAD 6 was notified by the Department of Health and Human Services that Zachariah Sherburne allegedly had a sexual encounter with a student from Sacopee Valley High School in Hiram on Feb. 12, according to an investigation conducted by law firm Drummond, Woodsum and MacMahon in conjunction with School Board members Paul Mosley and Cindy Meserve. Hiram is part of another school district, MSAD 55.
Zachariah Sherburne was indicted in April on felony sex charges after he allegedly had sex with the 16-year-old girl and got her pregnant. According to court documents, he befriended the girl while working in MSAD 55 as an educational technician at Sacopee Valley High, and began seeing her outside of school.
According to the investigation, Zachariah Sherburne was hired without proper state credentials, which is in violation of state law, as his application for state authorization included unofficial college transcripts.
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