March 29, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

School Union 92 superintendent resigns > Educator cites personal reasons for leaving after 2 years on the job

ELLSWORTH — At the midpoint of his second year on the job, Herb Robinson has resigned his position as superintendent of School Union 92, effective June 30, 1992.

Robinson confirmed recently that he had submitted his resignation at the annual meeting held this month with the 30-member Joint School Committee for Union 92. The superintendent cited personal reasons as explanation for his decision to resign.

Two other school systems in Hancock County are also conducting searches for new superintendents for the 1992-1993 school year — Union 93, that comprises the communities of Blue Hill, Castine, Brooksville, and Penobscot; and Union 98, that includes Mount Desert Island schools and those on the Cranberry Islands and Swans Island.

Robinson assumed his position with Union 92 in July 1990. He had previously served as superintendent of the SAD 30 and Union 110 school systems in Lee. He did not indicate what his plans are after leaving Union 92.

Ernest Butler, chairman of Union 92’s Joint School Committee, said Monday the superintendent’s job is “extremely difficult,” as the system includes six elementary schools and seven school boards, creating the necessity for many meetings and much travel between towns.

The Hancock, Lamoine, Surry, Trenton, Beech Hill and Cave Hill schools are members of the union, with the Cave Hill School, technically part of SAD 26, composed of the Eastbrook and Waltham school boards.

“The superintendent has to deal with seven school boards, seven budgets, seven sets of teacher negotiations,” Butler said. “That does create a problem.”

Robinson agreed the job has been challenging, with many night meetings at several locations. “It is a difficult position even in the best of times,” he said.

Butler said a new superintendent will face several challenges, including the need for continued work to broaden the union’s voice on the Ellsworth School Committee. Citing the significant steps made in the past two to three years, Butler said Union 92 representatives may now express opinions at the Ellsworth School Board meetings when the topic concerns the high school. The representatives do not have any voting power.

Approximately 65 percent of Union 92 students attend Ellsworth High School, down from nearly 75 percent one year ago, Butler said. That represents about 40 percent of the high school’s population.

The remainder of the Union 92 high school students attend either Mount Desert Island High School, Sumner Memorial High School, George Stevens Academy, or other schools. Students within Union 92 may choose which high school to attend, with tuition paid by the union to the high schools. The annual tuition bill is well over $1 million.

Two members of the 18-member Ellsworth High School Building Committee, a committee formulating plans for a new high school facility, are from Union 92.

Two years ago, Union 92 members began discussion of building a separate high school for that union, citing the rising cost of tuition, increasing enrollment in Union 92 elementary schools, and the lack of representation on the high school boards.

That idea lost its initiative when more representation was achieved on the Ellsworth School Board and when Ellsworth began to pursue construction of a new high school.

“We’ve come a long, long way,” Butler said. “There is a considerable difference now. We have dialogue on a regular basis and a lot of complaints have been taken care of.

“But Union 92 is growing by leaps and bounds. We’ll have to see how things work in Ellsworth. They’ll have to come to satisfy us to some degree, or we still could possibly build our own high school.”

Butler added that a committee will be appointed in January to begin the search for a new superintendent.


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