'More work to be done': RSU 21 Superintendent Terri Cooper inks new three-year contract

KENNEBUNK, Maine — RSU 21 Superintendent Terri Cooper has led the district through a historic pandemic, has survived local politics and celebrated the successes of local schools and students on the statewide stage, all in the past two years.

Now she’ll see what the next three years will bring.

Cooper has signed on to lead RSU 21 through June 2025, as a result of a new contract the School Board approved.

“Ensuring our district retains a highly qualified leader like Dr. Cooper is a top priority of the board, particularly during these challenging times as public education rebounds from the impacts of COVID-19,” Board Chair Art LeBlanc stated in a news release. “Securing a competitive three-year employment contract between the board and Dr. Cooper safeguards stability and continuity at RSU 21.”

The contract takes effect upon the start of the district’s new fiscal year on July 1, 2022, and expires on June 30, 2025. The board unanimously approved the agreement during its meeting on May 16.

Cooper will be paid an annual salary of $160,000.

Cooper said she is “extremely pleased” to continue the “important work” of the district and to serve students, staff members and the community.

“I am proud of the progress that our administration team has made over the past two years in curriculum, operations, human resources, special services, technology, and finance,” she said. “I know that there is more work to be done on behalf of our students and staff in the years ahead. I look forward to continuing this progress with our team.”

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School Board member Dawn Therrien, who chairs the district’s Human Resources Committee, led the contract negotiations.

“This is an incredibly challenging time for public school leaders throughout the nation,” Therrien said. “Our district can continue to move forward, guided by Dr. Cooper’s leadership and her commitment to the RSU 21 community. Our focus is to ensure all students at RSU 21 succeed, and the district has a leader who embraces that mission.”

According to LeBlanc, the School Board also unanimously approved one-year contract extensions for all RSU 21 administrators.

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Getting to the dotted line

The School Board evaluated Cooper’s job performance during several executive sessions last fall. The board approved its final evaluation in December.

The evaluation period focused on the areas of vision, culture and instructional leadership, operations, recourse and personnel development, board governance and policy, communications and community relations, and ethical leadership.

“In addition, Dr. Cooper was also rated in four key areas that encompassed board-approved goals related to district leadership, student achievement, managing stakeholder engagement, and diversity, equity & inclusion,” according to the board’s May 24 news release.

In addition to the salary, the contract’s financial terms reduced Cooper’s available sick leave to 15 days annually and her accrued vacation days will no longer be paid upon separation of employment. Cooper, who has earned a doctorate, will earn compensation based on her education status – an arrangement in step with RSU 21’s contracts with teachers and other instructional personnel, the board noted.

Therrien said she and LeBlanc studied superintendent contracts throughout the state and analyzed total compensations in the external market as well.

“As part of our due diligence, we also evaluated the national job market,” Therrien said. “Highly qualified, experienced public-school superintendents are in demand throughout the country.”

This contract is “grounded in market workforce data,” Therrien added.

“Dr. Cooper’s performance and commitment to RSU 21, particularly during some very tumultuous times in our community, speaks to her strength of character,” she said.

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Tumult and triumph

Cooper started as superintendent of RSU 21 in July 2020 during a time when school districts everywhere were trying to figure out the safest way to approach the coming academic year in September due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She moved to Maine from North Carolina, where she started her career as an educator, first as a teacher, then as a director of employee support services, and ultimately as a principal for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools.

She has a doctorate in educational leadership from Wingate University, a master’s degree in administration from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and a bachelor of arts in elementary education from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

In the past two years, Cooper has helmed the district during a health crisis and a political controversy and also during times of high recognition and triumph.

The health crisis was the pandemic. Throughout the 2020-2021 school year, Cooper had schools follow the hybrid model of instruction, in which students learned in class and from home, in an effort to limit the number of people inside buildings and to make social distancing manageable. At points throughout the year, some parents and others pushed back against the model, describing what they maintained were negative social and academic impacts on their children, but Cooper stayed the course until the end of classes in June.

Although students returned to class full-time in September for the current school year, pandemic-related controversies persisted, most notably when it came to the district’s policy on wearing masks inside schools as a health and safety measure. Tensions over the policy boiled over in late February, when a group of parents protested in front of schools and later refused to wear masks during a School Board meeting one evening. Following state guidance, the district ended its mask-wearing policy in March.

Also in March, voters rejected an effort to recall School Board member Tim Stentiford. Proponents of the recall cited several reasons for their efforts, with financial grievances and the board’s treatment of parents and teachers among them. However, in a letter to potential recall supporters last fall, organizer Norm Archer targeted Cooper, saying she was “unfit” to meet the district’s unprecedented challenges.

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Therrien was one of several School Board members who defended and praised Cooper shortly after Archer’s comment was reported to the public. Cooper, Therrien said, had “handled difficult situations that other superintendents in Maine have struggled to solve.”

“This is the exact opposite of unfit,” Therrien said. “Dr. Cooper is the right leader for this district at this time.”

Cooper also has presided over times of triumphs – recently, in fact, RSU 21 has been on a roll.

In April, U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona visited the district to showcase its transportation department at a time when other school systems are struggling with shortages of bus drivers and difficulties in getting students to school.

Also, in May, U.S. News and World Report ranked Kennebunk High School second out of the 113 high schools in Maine. As well, the Maine Department of Education announced that KHS science teacher Melissa Luetje has been named York County’s Teacher of the Year and is now in the running to be named Maine’s Teacher of the Year.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Superintendent Terri Cooper to lead RSU 21 for three more years