The Waterville Board of Education on Monday approved the hiring of Erin Madore, left, as principal of Albert S. Hall School; Erica Morrison as assistant principal of George J. Mitchell School; and Keith Mahoney, assistant principal of Waterville Senior High School. Amy Calder/Morning Sentinel

WATERVILLE — The Albert S. Hall School will soon have a new principal and the George J. Mitchell and Waterville Senior High schools will have new assistant principals.

The Waterville Board of Education voted 5-0, with one abstention, Monday night to approve the hiring of Erin Madore as principal of the Hall School; Erica Morrison, assistant principal of the Mitchell School; and Keith Mahoney as assistant principal at the high school.

Madore, 46, of Benton, will succeed Barbara Jordan, who plans to retire as Hall School principal at the end of June. Madore is currently Maine School Administrative District 54’s Title I director and assistant principal of both Margaret Chase Smith and North Elementary schools in Skowhegan. She previously taught second grade at Canaan Elementary School.

Madore said in an interview Monday that she was looking to move up into a school leadership position and when the Hall School opening occurred she decided to apply.

“I know I have big shoes to fill, so I’m very honored they chose me to do that, and I’m really excited,” Madore said. “I’ve always heard good things about the district and the school.”

Madore earned a bachelor’s degree in early childhood special education from the University of Maine at Farmington in 1999, a master’s degree in 2010 from the University of Maine in Orono, and a certificate of advanced study in literacy in 2012, also from UMaine. She went on to take classes in school administration and holds a building principal certification. She will start in her new position July 1.

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Morrison, 40, of Waterville, has taught special education at the Mitchell School for four years, is the team leader there for special education and says she has two children in Waterville Public Schools. She earned a bachelor’s in biology and psychology from UMaine in 2004 and a master’s in education, also from UMaine in Orono, in 2010. This summer she will graduate from the University of New England with a certificate of advanced study in educational leadership.

“I graduated from Waterville Senior High School, this has always been my home, and because of the pandemic, there’s been a need for more leadership,” Morrison said. “This was an opportunity I thought would be perfect for me.”

Board Chairperson Joan Phillips-Sandy noted that Morrison is the daughter of Waterville Schools Superintendent Eric Haley. The schools have a nepotism policy, she said, and the policy permits the hiring of someone closely related to a board member or the superintendent if certain conditions are met before the board approves the hiring. She said those conditions have been met.

“We got a legal opinion that there is no law that we are aware of that prohibits this,” Phillips-Sandy said.

Haley read aloud the conditions, which include that a search must have been conducted to fill the position, the proposed employee was recommended by the search committee or by the person responsible for filling the position, a plan was developed to avoid a direct supervisory relationship between the employee and the board member or superintendent, an alternative plan was developed to provide evaluation of the employee by someone other than the relative and the totality of the circumstances makes the proposed employee the best available person for the position.

Phillips-Sandy said Morrison will be evaluated by the building principal, Kim Taylor.

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Mahoney, 34, of Oakland, currently is principal of Carrabec Community School in North Anson, which serves students in kindergarten through grade eight. He has served in the position since 2020 and prior to that taught social studies at Messalonskee Middle School in Oakland for several years, he said. He earned a bachelor’s degree in secondary education, social studies, from UMF in 2009 and a master’s in educational leadership from Thomas College.

“Being from the area, it really was a dream to come back and serve a community that’s right next door,” Mahoney said. “I have a baby on the way as well, so it seems like the right time to try to get closer to home.”

His wife, Lindsay Mahoney, teaches math and science at Messalonskee Middle School and was named Kennebec County Teacher of the Year in 2020.

The board Monday approved the appointments after a 50-minute executive session. Board member Maryanne Bernier abstained from voting and board member Spencer Krigbaum was absent from the meeting.

In other matters, the board approved a request to combine Waterville’s high school hockey team with those at Gardiner Area High School and Winslow High School, if school boards from those communities also approve.

Athletic Director Heidi Bernier explained to the board that in the best case scenario, the team would have 34 players between the three communities, for junior varsity and varsity.

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