DIXFIELD — The RSU 10 board unanimously appointed Craig King, principal of Mt. Ararat High School in Topsham, as the new superintendent Monday night.

King will begin full-time with RSU 10 on Aug. 1, but start part-time work sometime in July.

“Thank you for your confidence,” he told the board. “I’m very excited to be here.”

“He fit everything we wanted in a superintendent,” Jerry Wiley, chairman of the RSU 10 board, said. “I think he’ll fit what we need.”

King, 48, graduated from Fort Kent Community High School, earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maine at Fort Kent and an master’s in education and doctorate from the University of Southern Mississippi. He received his superintendent’s license from the University of Maine.

Leading RSU 10 and its 10 schools will be his first superintendency. He’s served at Mt. Ararat for the past nine years.

Wiley said King’s contract and salary will be set at the board’s next regular meeting on June 17.

King said he has always served in rural areas, such as Washington County, and wanted to continue in a similar environment. He is familiar with Western Maine through skiing at Sunday River in Newry and camping in Farmington, among other activities.

He plans to move to the River Valley.

SAD 75, of which Mt. Ararat is a part, currently serves about 2,400 students, including 850 at the high school. RSU 10 serves a total of about 2,700 students.

The board met in a closed session for just over an hour to ask any final questions before entering into public session to vote on King’s appointment. The 13-member Superintendent Search Committee had previously recommended King for the position by unanimous vote.

King will replace Tom Ward, who is leaving June 30 to be superintendent of RSU 9 in Farmington. He has been leader of RSU 10 for four years. Before that, he was superintendent of SAD 21 in Dixfield for six years.

Board Vice Chairman Bruce Ross made the motion to appoint King. Buckfield representative Maida Demers-Dobson seconded the motion.