A Regional School Unit 38 search committee has begun looking for a new superintendent to replace Donna Wolfrom, who is leaving the Readfield-based district at the end of the school year.

The RSU 38 board agreed during a meeting in January that administrators, teachers the staff and members of the community should be involved in the process. A subcommittee of school board members will decide what other stakeholders will have a role in the decision-making process. Contract negotiations with the final candidate will take place with the entire board.

Betty Morrell, the board chairwoman, said the superintendent’s position has been advertised and the first round of interviews is expected to take place in early April.

“A survey is available for students, parents, teachers, board members, Select Board members, and community members to fill out so that we know the qualities people value in a superintendent,” Morrell said. “We’ll use this data as we screen and interview candidates.”

Wolfrom has led the Maranacook Area Schools — which includes those in Readfield, Manchester, Mount Vernon and Wayne — since 2012. She accepted the superintendent’s position at Cape Elizabeth Schools late last year. Her three-year signed contract begins July 1 and will pay her $135,000 annually.

At its meeting in January, the board heard a presentation from Steven Bailey, executive director of the Maine School Management Association. The search committee was scheduled Thursday for a MSMA training, but that has been postponed because of an expected snowstorm.

Bailey stressed the importance of a current job description for the superintendent and a leadership profile of the kind of person the board is looking for in the district’s next leader.

Morrell said Wolfrom has been instrumental in hiring literacy and mathematics coaches for the district who work with teachers and students, providing direct support to students at every grade level. Working with teachers to improve instruction has led to higher test scores.

Wolfrom, 66, was born in New Jersey and moved to Maine in 1988. She lives in Monmouth and plans to live in or around Cape Elizabeth during the school week. She previously served as an assistant superintendent in Bangor and worked for 20 years in School Administrative District 55 as a teacher, literacy specialist and curriculum director.

Wolfrom is a superintendent who holds herself, and others, to high standards, Morrell said.

“Her decisions are based on what is best for children, which is easy to say but harder to consistently do,” she said. Morrell said the district will miss Wolfrom’s leadership.

“The development of a cohesive curriculum, pre-kindergarten through 12, has been a priority,” Morrell said.

Jason Pafundi — 621-5663

jpafundi@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @jasonpafundiKJ

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