NEWPORT – The strong leadership in SAD 48 was affirmed twice Tuesday night with the actions of the school board, and recognition in a state publication.

The board voted to extend the contract of Superintendent William Braun two years, rather than the customary one year.

As a result of the vote, Braun’s contract will expire in 2006.

“He’s a strong supporter of education for all children, a belief that all children can learn,” said board Chairman Ron Fowle on Wednesday. “He wants what we all want in this district, that when our children graduate they can compete, not just at the state level but in the world. He leads in a number of ways.”

Further affirmation of Braun’s leadership was cited in the Maine Department of Education’s latest publication featuring guidelines for early literacy education. “Strong administrative leadership around new literacy research” was cited for SAD 48’s districtwide approach to literacy education featured in the book.

Copies of the book were distributed to board members, Fowle said.

By law, school boards must review and act on the contracts of administrators in December.

With the accomplishments of Braun’s six years in the Newport-based district, the board eagerly renewed his contract with an annual salary of $84,000. “We’re not a rich district,” Fowle said. “There’s not a lot of extra money. He gets us the best buys and the best bids whenever and wherever he can. We get ‘the most bang for our buck.'”

Braun is the administrator of a six-town district with an annual budget in excess of $13 million.

For the next year and a half, he also will oversee the construction of two new, and long-awaited, middle schools for the district at an estimated cost of more than $13.4 million. “He is a tireless worker,” Fowle said of the superintendent and his ability to manage the large district and keep a strong hand on the purse strings.

“And he is a very good listener. He’s willing to listen to ideas from others. I think that’s something that makes him a good leader.”

Virginia Secor, literacy specialist for SAD 48, credited district administration for a nurturing and supportive atmosphere that permitted teachers to develop the model for early literacy cited in the MDOE publication, “A Solid Foundation.” The SAD 48 program began with a vision to coordinate the district’s literacy instruction in a common program, backed up with a management system to make it happen, Secor wrote.

“We view our schools as part of a district learning community,” she said. “Our teachers are provided adequate time, funding and support for individual staff development supplied by in-house experts. We nurture the idea that we have the ability to design and create the best programs for our kids.”

SAD 48 has a district leader who promotes the coordination of the instruction based on new literacy research and progress at state and national levels.

Because of that atmosphere, “principals and teachers are not spending wasted energy on finding the newest program that works,” Secor said. “Instead, we spend our time perfecting our program and sharing strategies to put best practice to use in our classrooms.”

Recognition of the literacy program at the state level puts the SAD 48 staff in a position to train others, Braun said. Summer programs and workshops to share the approach with other educators could be planned for the coming year, he said.

“It’s a great benefit to the SAD 48 staff to realize we are as good or better than any district,” Braun said of the recognition.