Hampden Academy principal resigns Four-year veteran dissatisfied with salary, district superintendent

HAMPDEN – After four years at Hampden Academy, Principal Katie Donovan has resigned.

Donovan told the SAD 22 board of directors Wednesday that she has decided to leave her position for several reasons.

She said the district is moving too slowly on a plan to refurbish Hampden Academy, her salary is too low, and she and Superintendent Rick Lyons don’t see eye to eye on some issues.

“I don’t feel good about going and I’m not taking another principalship,” Donovan said. “This is where I want to be.”

The space crunch at the high school is “seriously affecting the quality of education,” she told the board.

“I don’t think [the district] is moving with any urgency in the right direction for a new building,” she said. “We don’t need a new or refurbished school today or tomorrow or next year, but we need a plan and a direction.”

Donovan said she has been asking for three years to have a meeting with the board “to review the rules, responsibilities and pay scale of the principal.”

“It hasn’t happened,” she said.

Although the system has “high expectations,” Donovan, who earns around $67,950 a year, said she remains one of the lowest-paid Class A high school principals in the state.

“Sometimes there’s a need to reward loyalty,” she said, pointing out that she would have been the longest-serving principal in the area except for Bangor.

“At some point to keep good administrators you need to listen to what’s fair and equitable,” she said. “I’d have valued that.”

Finally, Donovan said she and Lyons “have different starting points for decision making and not a good working relationship for major decisions.”

Lyons said Donovan had notified him about her plans that afternoon. A new principal should be on board around Oct. 1, he said.

Many employees have left the district and taken positions that paid “substantially more money,” he said.

“People are demanding higher salaries and that puts lots of pressure on the district. But we hire people who deserve excellent compensation and we need to acknowledge that,” he said.