With his new post, the new assistant superintendent shakes his stormy past.
MECHANIC FALLS – It took less than a minute.
With a unanimous vote and without discussion, the School Union 29 Board Wednesday hired its new assistant superintendent, William Doughty.
The new administrator comes to the job after a controversial tenure as superintendent for SAD 40, located in the Waldoboro area. He resigned in March, following the discovery in December of a nearly $400,000 deficit in the school system. He had known for months but failed to tell the school board, said former Chairman Sam Pennington.
In the scandal’s wake, Doughty said Wednesday he re-examined his goals as an educator, deciding he was a weak budgeter. “You really can’t be good at everything,” he said.
Instead, he turned his attention to curriculum development and creating links between teachers, parents and the community.
“That’s really where my passion lies,” Doughty said. So, when the opening came up at the local school district, he applied.
In large part, the job will be to replace Christine Chamberlain, who left the role of curriculum coordinator in the spring.
Doughty would spend most of his time overseeing what is taught in the schools, making sure that classwork is consistent among them and that all meet learning requirements.
“I think he is very, very knowledgeable in these areas,” Superintendent Nina Schlikin said Tuesday. She nominated Doughty for the role.
With limited exposure to the union’s schools, he said he has been impressed, particularly with Poland Regional High School.
Doughty, 54, says he hopes to be in the job for several years. However, he had yet to sign a contract on Wednesday and did not know how long he would be asked to stay.
Doughty plans to become involved here, perhaps as far as performing with high school musicians. He sang in musicals in Waldoboro and sings in his church choir in Portland, where he lives. A pet project will be to boost the role of the arts in all the schools.
The job here is a chance to start new, he said, focusing on the things that made him an educator. He left behind his problems in Waldoboro, he said.
“I don’t feel any bitterness or rancor,” he said. “I learned that I can’t be a hero. I don’t want to be a hero.”
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