MACHIAS – The search for a new superintendent for Union 102 is continuing, and the union board is going to readvertise the position this weekend, according to the chairman of the search committee.

Edward White said Tuesday that such a small number of viable candidates responded to the first ad that the committee is issuing another call for applicants.

“We are very hopeful that we are going to find a good candidate,” White said.

Union 102 comprises Jonesboro, Machias, Marshfield, Northfield, Roque Bluffs, Wesley and Whitneyville.

Betty Jordan, who served as Union 102 superintendent for four years, resigned in November to become director of the Washington County Consortium for School Improvement.

White said the deadline for applicants to respond to this weekend’s ads in Bangor and Portland newspapers is April 14.

In the meantime, the seven union school boards are getting some help from the former Ellsworth superintendent of schools..

White said Bruce Sawyer has accepted the position of part-time interim superintendent. Sawyer comes to the Machias office two days a week, White said.

“He’s just an outstanding man,” White said. “And some people in Washington County will remember that he was the principal at Woodland High School back in the 1980s.”

Sawyer served as superintendent of the Ellsworth school system for 10 years before he retired from full-time work in July 1999.

“When we talked to him, he decided he could come down for a couple of days a week,” White said. “He schedules those days depending on the needs of the various school boards.”