GUILFORD – Obviously pleased with his performance this year, SAD 4 directors on Tuesday approved a $5,000 increase in pay for Superintendent Paul Stearns in 2007.

After an executive session, the directors set his salary at $82,000. Stearns now receives $77,000. His contract runs through June 30, 2008.

“I’m pleased that the board of directors is satisfied with the quality of work that is being done and the way that the district is being operated,” Stearns said Wednesday.

Along with evaluating the superintendent, directors agreed to take steps to offer more healthful food choices to students, staff and visitors.

Board members approved the second reading of a policy that will prohibit soft drinks from vending machines but did make some exceptions for special events. For example, these drinks can be offered as refreshments and at booths operated by the sports boosters as long as healthful alternatives also are available for sale or consumption, Stearns said Wednesday.

Faced with constant problems with the boiler servicing Piscataquis Community High School, directors said they would replace the boiler this summer with two smaller, more efficient boilers. Stearns said it will “roughly” cost $100,000 to make the change. The district set aside $75,000 this year in a dedicated account for the project and anticipate that the remainder will come from the maintenance account.

“Where it’s one boiler, it really puts us in a precarious position if we lose it, because you risk losing the whole building,” Stearns said. He said the two boilers will allow the district to service one if needed and still have heat. Two circulating pumps were replaced this fall to help with the move.

After listening to a request from members of the Piscataquis Community High School prom committee, directors voted to allow the committee to hold the prom off campus, likely at the new Millennium Wedding and Conference Center in Palmyra.

Directors were told that many students now travel to Bangor for a nice dinner before returning to the prom and would rather have a meal catered at the same location as the dance. The move also will improve the ambiance, according to students.