Waterville Board of Education to interview three candidates

WATERVILLE — The Waterville Board of Education on Monday is slated to interview three candidates to fill the unexpired term of former board member Julian Payne, who resigned recently because he plans to move out of the city.

Waterville Superintendent Eric Haley Morning Sentinel file photo by Michael Seamans

The meeting will be held at 6 p.m. in the Waterville Junior High School Library and the public may attend in person or opt to view the meeting via a link on the school website, wtvl.aos92.org.

Stephen Crate, a former school board member and city councilor; Jeffrey “Steve” Kahl, a Thomas College faculty member and former high school teacher; and Spencer Krigbaum, a senior software developer and software engineer, are all vying for Payne’s seat and plan to be at the meeting in person, according to School Superintendent Eric Haley.

Haley said Friday that the board could decide to appoint a person to the board after the interviews or wait until a future school board meeting.

Crate, who holds a master’s degree in public administration and a bachelor’s in rehabilitation psychology, has more than 35 years experience in private and public sector employment in human and organizational development and training and systems analysis, according to his resume.

Kahl, a professor of environmental science at Thomas, holds a doctorate in earth sciences, a master’s in geology and a bachelor’s in zoology and is a radio host for WERU-FM in Orland, where he hosts the monthly call-in show “Power for the People,” which is about renewable energy.

Krigbaum is a senior software developer for Tyler Technologies, working as a full stack developer utilizing HTML, CSS and Javascript with Angular 8 and a NET back end, according to his resume. Kahl studies environmental science at Thomas, where he studied computer science from 2015 to 2016.

Haley said the person chosen to fill the seat would serve until the election in November and could choose to run again at that time. If elected in November, he would serve Payne’s unexpired term of two years, which ends in 2022.

In other matters, Haley said he will ask to form a school reopening study committee made up of a school board member, parents, two teachers from each school, a lead nurse and a maintenance person.

Heidi Bernier, athletic director for both the senior and junior high schools, is expected to update the board on Maine Principals Association guidelines concerning coaches working with student athletes this summer.

The board is scheduled to consider policies related to use of video cameras on school property; high school attendance; athletic eligibility and participation; employee accident reports; and various policies, including the one on alcohol, tobacco and other drugs.

The board is scheduled to go into two executive sessions to consider employment of officials, appointees and employees, and talk about labor contract discussions.