Thu, 02/16/2017 - 08:53 pm

SUSAN JOHNS

Wiscasset Superintendent of Schools Heather Wilmot addresses parents and others Feb. 16 in a session ahead of the night’s School Committee meeting. Wiscasset Elementary School Principal Mona Schlein, center, and Wiscasset Middle High School Principal Peg Armstrong listen. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper

Heather Wilmot will remain Wiscasset’s superintendent of schools through June 30, 2022, under her latest deal with the School Committee. After a brief closed-door session in the Wiscasset Middle High School library Feb. 16, the committee returned to open session and agreed to keep Wilmot on two more years than the last pact gave her.

It would have run out June 30, 2020, officials said; the new five-year deal starts July 1 and ends June 30, 2022.

Asked about the decision, committee members said Wilmot approached them about extending her stay and they took her up on it. Her leadership has been exemplary from day one, Vice Chairman Glen Craig said.

“Outstanding,” member Eugene Stover added.

Wilmot, of Brunswick, said she wants to be Wiscasset’s superintendent as long as she is welcome and she feels very welcome.

The committee hired her in February 2015 under a two-year contract that started that July; the panel later gave her a three-year deal good through mid-2020. The new one replaces the second contract and is the longest the state allows, officials said. The contracts have to be new ones rather than extensions, Craig said.

Wilmot’s pay for 2020-21 and 2021-22 is still to be negotiated. She said in 2017-18, she’ll get $101,524, up from this fiscal year’s $97,744; her pay stays flat for 2018-19 and 2019-20. The contract being replaced also would have given her the $101,524 each of those three years, she said.

Commenting further on her decision to commit to more years, Wilmot wrote in an email Friday, she is proud to be part of the department. It and the community have experienced a lot of change, and consistent leadership will help bring stability, she wrote.

“I genuinely love my job ... The work is challenging, exciting and fulfilling. Many people have described me as ... always looking ahead or a forward-thinker and I am thrilled to think that I will be able to provide more years of service to this community and to continue to guide future opportunities.”

Wilmot’s service came up at a separate meeting earlier Thursday night. Kim Andersson, WMHS teacher and mother of two Wiscasset Elementary School students, noted Wiscasset has had many superintendents in recent decades. Having a longer-term one this time could help end the department’s pattern of knee-jerk reactions to school issues, Andersson said. The meeting was a family information night on the sixth grade’s possible move to WMHS.

“She’s always forward-thinking,” Craig said about Wilmot after Andersson made her comment.

Wiscasset’s first two superintendents after leaving Sheepscot Valley Regional School Unit 12 were interim leaders. Wilmot followed them.

This article has been updated.