KINGFIELD — Two longtime principals in Maine School Administrative District 58 will retire at the end of the school year, Superintendent Laura Columbia announced recently on the district’s Facebook page.

Tim Richards, principal of Mt. Abram High School, and Ronda Fournier, principal of Kingfield Elementary School, will step down after years of service.

“Tim has done an excellent job of working on the climate and culture of the school,” Columbia said in a recent interview. “He has worked collaboratively with the school guidance counselor to help bring structure and procedures. In this past year, he has procured grant funds for a greenhouse to really help work with our students who are not as engaged in school.”

Fournier has also left a lasting impact on Kingfield Elementary School. “She has worked very hard to implement strong curriculum, Tier 1 practices, as well as leading a school-wide inclusion pilot,” Columbia said. “She has made great strides in connecting and working with the staff to meet the needs of our students.”

“Tim and Ronda were great teammates and principals,” she said. “We will definitely feel their loss, as they came to us with a wide array of educational experiences, but we are happy they are taking this time to retire and enjoy their time with their loved ones.”

MSAD 58 will soon begin the search for new principals.

“I am always looking for a collaborative team player,” Columbia said. “Even though they are hired to lead their school, we are a district, so it is crucial for our principals to be team players and want to work on improving our opportunities and education for all students.”

The community will play a role in the selection process.

“We will take the feedback and look for trends,” Columbia said. “We then use that information to help craft interview questions, as well as discussing community feedback when we are looking at our final candidate.”

An committee will be formed to conduct interviews and review applications.

Due to confidentiality policies, the district will not hold public meetings with final candidates before a decision is made.

Gathering community feedback is an essential part of the process, Columbia said. “For me, it is crucial that we gather input from all of our constituents,” she said. “We all come to an interview with different perspectives and values, and it is my responsibility that the community is represented in the process.”

“I really hope we are able to see the most important characteristics of a principal that the community values,” Columbia said. “No one is perfect and has all of the characteristics, but it can help us narrow down the candidates when we compare that to what the community has shared with us.”

Looking ahead, the new principals will step into roles with a strong foundation, Columbia said.

“Our schools have done a lot of work in the last few years to really improve the quality of education and continue the work of our goals,” she said. “I envision the new principal building off of the strong foundation that has been laid in previous years.”

The district will provide updates on the hiring process as it moves forward.