As many of you know, our central office and school district has been in flux, particularly on the personnel side. We have had significant turnover since the start of the school year and we are working to address these needs. Every position is important, and we are committed to finding the right people for our SAU. We need each person that we hire to be fully invested in the success of our district’s future.

Job Roles for the Right People

With that in mind, we want to make sure you know about all of the positions that have recently been vacated. The assistant superintendent, grants manager, HR director and coordinator, and the director of student services gave his notice in September and most finished his employment in October. The technology director gave his two weeks notice last week. While we wish that this had been spread out over more time and not at the beginning of the school year, the challenge of finding new people to fill these roles is not insurmountable.

All of the positions we are looking to fill will be interim roles through June 30, 2026.

We have already started our search for a student services director, and we have had several interviews. We do currently have a consultant who is helping with compliance, professional development, needs assessment, and mentoring. That consultant was a special education teacher for 27 years and spent the last fifteen years a student services director.

In our Human Resources office, the superintendent’s executive assistant has moved over to lead the HR department. Chelsea Weatherford has been indispensable over the years, especially during Interim Superintendent Kennedy’s transition into her new role, and she has the skills and attention to detail that will make her successful in her new role. We are actively looking for a new HR coordinator to support Ms. Weatherford.

We’re also adding two part-time positions to support the central office: a data entry clerk and a health insurance reconciler. Both of these positions will be two days per week and be very focused on their roles. These people will make reporting more accurate while they maintain and update specific records. Already, health insurance reconciliation has saved Claremont and Unity $800k.

We are looking at realigning the assistant superintendent position and the grants manager position into a single administrative role. Curricula and grants often go hand-in-hand, with the latter funding the former, so this is a natural fit that can introduce efficiencies while also saving some money by looking for one person instead of two.

And, last but not least, we are looking to fill the Technology Director position immediately. In the meantime, we are working with our current director to transition his job functions seamlessly in the event that it takes a little longer to find the right person.

Business Administrator Contract

Our Interim Business Administrator Matt Angell has agreed to a contract with us through the end of FY2027. This guarantees much needed stability and expertise in that position for the next year and a half. With regards to salary, he will receive a total salary not to exceed $125,000 for FY26. That will increase to $135,000 for FY27. The new contract includes developing a 457B plan that will allow him to defer compensation up to $70,000 and reduces the contribution the SAU to the NH Retirement System. Mr. Angell will also get four weeks of paid time off (vacation and sick days). These do not get paid out at the end of the contract.

Termination of Former Business Administrator

Former SAU 6 business administrator Mary Henry has signed her termination agreement and is no longer part of the SAU. While there was originally going to be a public hearing at her request (as previously shared), that hearing will no longer take place as the termination agreement was the final step in her leaving the position. There is no severance payment; Ms. Henry only received the monetary equivalent to the remaining paid time off, as required. The termination agreement is available via a Right-to-Know request.