ORONO – Area native Robert Sinclair was hired Tuesday to fill the assistant principal position at Orono High School.

“He’s an Orono resident and graduate of Orono High School, which makes it especially neat for him to return to Orono,” Superintendent Tom Perry said Wednesday.

The new hire is a “very proud” 1972 graduate of OHS who spent much of his high school career playing football and baseball.

“I’ve lived in Orono all my life, so I’m somewhat place-bound,” he said. “For me the opportunity to apply and come home is extremely intriguing. Tyler, the last of four children, is in eighth grade this fall. So for me it’s doubly meaningful.”

The Orono School Committee met Tuesday and hired Sinclair, who held the position of assistant principal for Bucksport High School for the past 21/2 years.

Between 1990 and 2000 Sinclair worked at Hampden Academy as a physical education instructor and head football coach. Before that he taught several subjects at John Bapst Memorial High School in Bangor, where he also coached football and baseball.

“If you think of my career, I’ve been in three awesome places, and now I’ll [have been] in four awesome places,” he said.

Sinclair, who holds a master’s degree in educational leadership from University of Maine, was given a one-year contract with a starting salary of $59,800.

Sinclair lives in Orono with his wife, Sally, and son, Tyler. The couple’s three other children, Robbie, Debbie and Derek, already graduated from OHS.

During the meeting, the school committee also reviewed its policy on hazing. The policy’s wording came under scrutiny by the committee.

“We talked about the phrase ‘injurious hazing,'” Chairman Jim Artesani said. “The legal term is ‘injurious hazing.’ We decided to include a statement that said that we believe any hazing is injurious hazing.”

The proposed modification to the policy will be presented at the next school committee meeting Sept. 9.