The president of Maine’s community college system will step down at the end of the next academic year.

David Daigler, who has held the top spot since 2019 and worked for the system since 2003, told trustees Wednesday that it was the right time, personally, to leave the position.

In a letter, Daigler, 68, acknowledged his decision was not easy.

“I feel very good about where we are as a system,” he wrote. Daigler is a champion of college affordability and expanded workforce training, the system said, highlighting the codification of free community college tuition and the creation of the workforce-training Harold Alfond Center under his tenure.

“It has been my greatest privilege to work alongside the outstanding people at Maine’s community colleges to make these colleges, our communities, and the entire state a more prosperous, kind, and supportive place for all,” Daigler said

The Maine Community College System is comprised of seven schools across the state, offering two-year degrees and short-term workforce training programs to more than 20,000 students.

Daigler began his relationship with the system in the mid-1990s as the director of what was then called Southern Maine Technical College. He left briefly to work in the healthcare industry, then returned in 2003 as the chief financial officer of the system. From there, he became vice president, and later assumed the presidency in 2019.

It was the same year Janet Mills was sworn in as governor, which led to what Daigler described Thursday as a fruitful partnership. The two worked together closely to get permanent free community college tuition over the finish line, after years of budget-to-budget funding.

“Our strategies were in sync,” he said.

That’s part of why he announced his departure now: He wants the new president to have a chance to develop a similar partnership with the incoming administration. (The primary race to determine who will run in that election to replace Mills is currently set to go to a ranked-choice runoff.)

Daigler said he’s also particularly proud of the workforce development programs, and the way Maine’s community colleges have forged new relationships with employers.

A few weeks ago, as he watched a record number of students graduate, Daigler said he reflected on all the good work the system had done, and thought: “The organization deserves someone who has the energy I had eight years ago.”

Daigler said this isn’t exactly a retirement, but he’s not interested in another traditional job either. He’d like to continue advocating for the changes he’s overseen in workforce training and higher education.

“David has been a tremendous leader in a consequential and difficult period, deftly handling the pressures of the pandemic, political turmoil and dramatic swings in economic factors in Maine resulting from the pandemic,” board of trustees Chairman Peter DelGreco said in a statement, noting that Daigler will be “sorely missed.”

The search for a new president will begin immediately, the system said.