Mon, 05/13/2024 - 04:11 am

SUSAN JOHNS

Amy Bayha. File photo

Wiscasset Elementary School Principal Amy Bayha had not planned on going anywhere. She and husband Tim had a home in town under contract to buy, but the seller didn’t sell, she explained in an email response to questions after her name appeared under resignations on the school committee’s May 14 agenda, released Friday.

“After much scrambling we found a lovely winter rental, but between being a renter and the very high home interest rates (should we find something else to buy), we will be returning to our home in Kennebunk,” Bayha wrote. And she does not plan to go to work for another school department.

“I am sorry to go. However, after 34 years as a teacher/administrator, I am simply ready to retire from public education. (Technically, the state would not call this retiring since I am not eligible to draw a pension until 62, but I am not moving to another district/RSU),” she explained. “I started in 1990 and as they say, when you know it's time, you know.”

The committee named Bayha principal April 11, 2023; she started last July with a two-year contract with a starting salary of $95,000 a year, according to Wiscasset Newspaper files. She succeeded Kathleen Pastore, who served for two years.