From firefighter to potato farmer to educator: Meet York’s new school superintendent

YORK, Maine — The new superintendent of schools says he will help the town’s four schools form a unified vision for what makes an ideal graduate.

Tim Doak, previously superintendent in Caribou, Stockholm and Fort Fairfield, took over the York School Department July 1 after being hired by the School Committee in April. Once a firefighter and potato farmer, Doak said his approach to learning emphasizes the student’s overall preparation for life.

He said he plans to oversee improvements that unify the curriculum from kindergarten through high school and grow opportunities for student internships at local businesses. He is hoping for internships, also called extended learning opportunities in schools, to become a requirement for juniors and seniors.

Doak signed a one-year contract with a $180,000 salary this spring. He replaces Lou Goscinski, who announced his intention to leave in November after five years of service in York.

Doak has previously been superintendent at RSU 39 since 2015 and was named Superintendent of the Year in 2018. He has served more than one community at a time. Most recently, he took on the additional role of superintendent of MSAD 20 in 2016.

Doak said he looks forward to focusing all his efforts on one school district at the York School Department.

“I’ve got a lot of experience,” Doak said. “To help the families of York and the students of York get to the next level of what we’re doing.”

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Doak looks to build ‘One York’ initiative

Doak has spent the first weeks in York meeting staff, students, parents, and community members like the town manager and fire and police chiefs. He said a connected community is critical to local education.

Doak said his initiatives, therefore, are based on cohesion and connectivity. He said the schools recently underwent the accreditation process with the New England Association of Schools and Colleges for all grades. He said it was determined the curriculum should be more unified between the grades.

“Four great schools working independently,” Doak said. “It’s great, but... it should be all together.”

Central to that work will be the concept of an ideal York graduate, who will be introduced to students of all grades. He said the concept has been carried out in other schools in Maine and focuses on key traits.

“It comes out to what you want your students to be. Do you want them to be critical thinkers? Do you want them to be empathetic? Do you want them to be research-based?” Doak said.

The goal is to prepare students of all backgrounds and skill levels to succeed after graduation. To help with that, Doak said he hopes to bolster York High School’s offerings for internships at local businesses in what he called a “One York” concept. He said a student before his arrival had already had success with an extended learning opportunity with the water department.

He said extended learning programs could create and “stretch” the student’s learning. A student working at a grocery store could focus his project on how he manages the produce section, he said.

Doak said student services to address mental health are a priority, as well. He said the COVID-19 pandemic has brought challenging times for students and faculty who are still recovering from lockdown.

“At my other school I would hold hands with teachers so they wouldn’t quit,” Doak said. “It was tough on them, and it was tough on students.”

Doak said there are other improvements he hopes to lead the school department toward. The high school’s field and track are aged, and he said there likely be a new turf track and field planned soon.

While Doak said he is competitive about improving services, he's aware of the need to consider what taxpayers can afford. He said York has seen a decline in student enrollment caused by several factors, including an aging population and whether people with children move to York. Ensuring York offers the best it can remains his goal, though, and he said he plans to educate the public on the school’s needs.

“My hope is York sees the importance of it, too,” Doak said.

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Doak: York School District is a new beginning

Doak said his time working with his hands in a small town where his grandfather was a fire chief shaped him as a community-oriented person with an open mind. He said Fort Fairfield, his hometown, was the largest potato-producing community in the Eastern United States, and he spent his early years working on those farms.

“I worked with people that were drunk at work,” Doak said. “I got a lot of empathy in that work and a lot of understanding… I don’t judge people.”

Doak eventually got a job at the Fort Fairfield Recreation Department. There, he learned he enjoyed working with kids, running programs like junior baseball and coaching softball. It encouraged him to choose a career path in education.

Doak has always enjoyed staying busy. Before he was superintendent of two schools at once, he was a volunteer firefighter in one of his communities in the 1990s and a teacher. He recalled telling kids stories like how he went to a chimney fire before school that day.

“I tried to make the kids see me as someone that’s real,” Doak said.

Doak chose to leave behind the northern part of the state to be closer to his children in Portland and Brunswick. They enjoyed York while visiting the Seacoast when their daughter attended the University of New Hampshire.

“The north was great,” Doak said. "This is a whole new beginning for us.”

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This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: New superintendent aims to create ‘One York’ vision for York schools