York superintendent search down to two finalists
YORK, Maine — The town School Committee will decide between one of York’s elementary school principals and a top administrator from Aroostook County to replace outgoing Superintendent Lou Goscinski.
Coastal Ridge Elementary School Principal Sean Murphy and Timothy Doak, superintendent of schools for Eastern Aroostook RSU 39 and RSU 86/MSAD 20, were announced Friday as the finalists for the superintendent position in the York School Department. A press release from the department said a decision would be made in time for an announcement at the April 5 York School Committee meeting.
Goscinski announced in November that he would step down from being York’s superintendent in July following five years of service. He will leave one year before his current three-year contract ends.
“It is the right time for me to seek something new professionally,” Goscinski said at the time. He said he gave a commitment of at least five years of service when he came to York.
Murphy has served as the CRES principal since 2007. He came to the school after serving as assistant vice principal at the Flood Brook Union School in Londonderry, Vermont. He could not be reached for comment Friday.
Recently, Murphy received praise from the school community for working through the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. In April 2021, parents and students held a parade celebrating the principal and thanking him for his work following a challenging year. The president of the CRES parents’ group at the time, Rebecca Acree, said Murphy’s strengths include his ability to meet with kids where they are and that he “genuinely cares about everyone in the school.”
Doak, who oversees schools in northern Maine towns of Caribou, Stockholm and Fort Fairfield, has been superintendent at RSU 39 since 2015 and was named Superintendent of the Year in 2018, according to an article on the University of Maine at Presque Isle. He took on the additional role of superintendent of MSAD 20 in 2016, and his career has also included work as a social studies teacher, assistant principal, principal and 10 years of adjunct teaching at the University of Maine at Fort Kent.
Doak could not be reached for comment but said upon receiving the award for superintendent of the year that he has worked to bring schools to “the cutting edge of what’s going on in Maine.”
York School Committee Chair Tom Martine said the decision between a respected internal candidate like Murphy and an external one with experience like Doak will be difficult. He said the school district will be looking for a superintendent that is forward thinking and has an eye for inclusivity and equity as York becomes more diverse. He also said the school district is still recuperating from the pandemic and its lasting impacts on education that have been felt throughout the nation.
Martine said Murphy is respected for his strong emotional intelligence, skill as an “incredible listener” and his ability to rise to the occasion in a challenging scenario. At the same time, he noted that Doak brings superintendent experience with high accolades on his resume. He said Doak would be interviewed by the School Committee in executive session Friday, then Murphy on Monday.
“Ultimately the decision, once and whatever is made because we certainly don’t know yet, will be dependent on the collective of the committee itself,” Martine said. “It’s difficult, and it’s also exciting.”
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: York, Maine superintendent search down to two finalists
