BREWER – The city’s superintendent of schools for the past five years confirmed Friday that he plans to retire this fall, once he has seen the school system’s scheduled summer construction projects through.

Superintendent Allan Snell, 58, is a 25-year veteran of the Brewer School Department. He has served as superintendent of schools here since September 1996, when he was chosen from a field of 20 to 25 candidates from around the country.

A special school committee meeting has been scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday at Capri Street School. Snell’s resignation is the sole item on the agenda.

On Friday, Snell said the decision to leave his Brewer post was a difficult one. “I really like it in Brewer,” Snell said. “It’s a great school system and we have some wonderful teachers and students here. My kids went to school here. But it made sense at this point in my life.”

Snell is not disappearing from the local education spotlight, however. He said he has been offered a similar part-time post in nearby Union 91 (Orrington, Orland). The position is a four-fifths post, which amounts to a four-day workweek as opposed to his current five.

Brewer and Union 91 have a close working relationship. More than 60 percent of Orrington and Orland’s high school students attend Brewer High School.

The Union 91 job is contingent upon the approval of school committee members in the Union 91 towns of Orrington and Orland during their respective meetings next month, Orrington School Committee Chairman Bruce Gray said Friday. He said Orrington school officials are scheduled to discuss the appointment June 5, while their Orland counterparts will take it up the next week.

According to Snell, no firm plans have been made for hiring his successor. He said the process will begin by posting the vacancy internally. Additional steps will be determined by the school committee.

Like he did five years ago, Snell appears poised to follow in the footsteps of Perry Jordan, who has served as interim superintendent of Union 91 since he left the superintendent position in Brewer. Jordan is retiring this fall.

Before he became superintendent here, Snell served in a number of administrative roles, including principal of Capri Street School and what was then known as Brewer Junior High School Before joining the Brewer School Department, Snell served as principal at Orland Consolidated School and Quimby Elementary School in Bingham. In 1984, he was named both Maine Elementary Principal of the Year and National Distinguished Principal.