Staff Writer
EASTON — Roger Shaw, superintendent of SAD 42 in Mars Hill, was hired Monday night as the interim superintendent of the Easton School System following the sudden departure of Georgette Bubar.
According to Gaylen Flewelling, chair of the Easton school board, Bubar’s resignation was accepted Sept. 24.
Georgette Bubar
In a letter addressed to Flewelling, Bubar called her decision “a difficult one.”
“It has certainly been an honor and a privilege to serve as the superintendent and principal here. I have been so very fortunate to work with a terrific group of students and teachers, administrators and parents who go the extra mile to make sure we have one of the best schools in the state despite our size,” said Bubar. “However, 2011-12 has been a time of tremendous change in my personal life and my conclusion to resign comes only after deep and careful consideration, as well as with great regret.
“Despite my resignation, I stand willing to help Easton in any way to assist in the transition to a new superintendent,” Bubar said. “Again, thank you for the privilege to work with all of you.”
Flewelling said Bubar’s leaving was amicable.
“We didn’t know she was thinking about resigning. It caught us off guard,” he said. “It’s too bad that it happened after the school year started, but she has some issues going on in her life including becoming recently divorced. We wish her well and we know it’s going to work out all right.”
Roger Shaw
Shaw starts work in Easton immediately.
“He’s going to be in the Easton School System a minimum of 10 hours a week onsite starting Oct. 2 and running through June 30, 2013,” said Flewelling. “With the school year under way, you don’t want to hire someone from another school district and have them leave there to come here, so we decided to wait on hiring a full-time superintendent, which we hope to have in place starting the next school year.”
As Bubar was both the superintendent and principal of the Easton Junior-Senior High School, the school department is also looking to hire a new principal. Shaw is only serving as interim superintendent.
“We have not hired an interim principal yet,” said Flewelling. “We are actively looking for a principal. We’re working on what we’ll do in the meantime. We have some ideas but nothing concrete yet.”
Flewelling said Shaw will receive $25,000 for the remainder of the school year; however, the school system does not pay benefits.
“When you get an interim superintendent from another school, you have to pay that district an amount of money because you’re taking the person away from their primary job,” he said. “We are paying SAD 42 $20,000 for Roger to work for the Easton School System. It’s a standard procedure.”
Shaw said he’s looking forward to helping out a neighboring school system.
“I’ve lived in Mars Hill all my life and I’ve known a lot of the Easton faculty and staff, and community members, and I’ve always had a lot of respect for Easton and their school system. It’s a top-notch school system and the community makes a major commitment to maintain that,” said Shaw. “They were in a situation where they were looking for some assistance at this point in time. They approached me and I approached the school board in Mars Hill and they agreed that we would be a good neighbor and help our good neighbor.”
While it’s challenging stepping into the role with the school in progress, Shaw said he’s optimistic the arrangement will work well for all involved.
“I am experienced and I know that the infrastructure is in place in Easton to manage this transition smoothly,” he said. “They’re very self-sufficient and have good people employed. It’s really a matter of coming in, encouraging and assisting them, and continuing their good work.”
Bubar replaced Frank Keenan, who retired in the summer of 2011.
