AUGUSTA — Voters will decide soon whether to remove the requirement that to be the superintendent of the city’s schools, you have to live in the city, too.

A charter amendment on the Augusta ballot going to voters Nov. 4, proposed by the Board of Education, would remove the city charter requirement that the superintendent live in Augusta in order to have the job.

Board members said the requirement greatly hampered their ability to attract an adequate pool of candidates for the job when former Superintendent Cornelia Brown left it in January 2013. And while they have since filled the superintendent’s position, they’re concerned it could hamper future searches.

“It was challenging, at best, to find someone who may be interested in the position if they were required to move,” said Susan Campbell, chairwoman of the school board. “When people are established in a community, have children in school and often travel distances to work, it seems outdated to have your superintendent required to live in the community.”

Campbell noted Augusta is one of only a handful of Maine municipalities that require superintendents to live in the community where their school systems are located.

City Manager William Bridgeo also has noted that residency requirements, while common for city managers, are rare for superintendents.

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After Brown left, the board agreed to hire James Anastasio, a former Cony High School principal, to become interim superintendent. Anastasio lives in Gardiner.

The board later extended Anastasio’s “interim” stint until June 2015. Since then, it has selected Anastasio as its regular superintendent, voting this year to remove the “interim” tag from his title starting in June 2015.

Anastasio has said he’ll move from Gardiner to Augusta if the charter change is rejected.

Campbell noted the charter change was not sought by board members specifically so they could give Anastasio the job. Rather, she said, it was to avoid limiting superintendent candidate pools by requiring residency into the future.

“Jim is looking to stay and would move to the community if that is what is necessary,” Campbell said. “But he owns a house in another community, which he’d have to sell. That’s a lot to ask someone to do, especially if they live six miles away. We’ve now made a decision about the superintendent, and he’ll live with whatever the citizens want. Our intentions have not changed (regarding changing the charter), and we hope the voters will support it.”

Campbell said the average stay in one job for most superintendents is only a few years, so asking them to relocate for a job deters candidates from the limited pool of qualified superintendents from even applying for the job.

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Opponents of the change have said living where they work gives superintendents a stake, and greater interest, in the community, and also makes them local taxpayers.

Keith Edwards — 621-5647

kedwards@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @kedwardskj


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