SAD 34 superintendent agrees to resign in August

BELFAST – After a half-year of angst over a budget shortfall that has grown to an estimated $1 million, the Belfast-area school board and Superintendent Bob Young say they have reached “an orderly and amicable conclusion” to their relationship: Young will leave SAD 34 effective Aug. 31.

He and board Chairwoman Jean Dube signed the agreement Friday.

Though Young has seven days in which he can revoke the agreement, the deal effectively ends a long and difficult chapter for the six-town district.

. Young announced in December that SAD 34 faced a $600,000 shortfall in its 2005-06 budget. That deficit grew to $800,000 by March, and now stands at about $1 million. An investigation laid much of the blame for the fiscal problems with Young, although the board failed to act on a series of cuts Young presented in December that would have rectified the shortfall.

. The superintendent was out on sick leave from late December to late May.

. By June 1, two-thirds of the 14 board members had quit, including two board chairmen and the chairman of the district’s finance committee.

. On June 9, the board laid off 130 hourly employees and agreed to close school a week early. The final payroll of the year was not made in full. The decision affected schools in Belfast, Swanville, Northport, Searsmont, Belmont, Morrill and Searsmont.

On Thursday night, the board voted to accept an agreement with Young, and to name Bruce Mailloux as assistant superintendent. Mailloux, who has been assistant principal at Belfast Area High School, has also been serving as interim assistant superintendent since May.

As part of the deal, Young begins serving as a special consultant to the district on July 1. When he is not in the office, Mailloux will have the superintendent’s authority.

The agreement document, made available Friday afternoon, releases the district from any possible legal claims of unlawful discrimination by Young. Young has said he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and depression tied to his service as a machine gunner in Vietnam in 1968.

The deal also provides for compensation for Young.

According to the deal, Young will be paid $21,717 for the 20 sick days and 39.5 vacation and personal days he will have accrued through Aug. 31. The total was arrived at by paying $365 for each day.

He also will receive a severance payment of $12,045, based on 33 days, also computed at the rate of $365 per day.

In addition, the district will give Young $10,000 toward his attorney fees, and will contribute $8,140 toward the cost of keeping him on the district’s health insurance policy through June 30, 2007.

Young also agrees to make himself available for any dispute resolution procedures or litigation that might arise related to matters that occurred when Young was superintendent, whether during or after his resignation.

At the central office Friday afternoon, Young said that stepping aside was the right thing to do and that he hoped it would help the district pass a budget for 2006-07. He said he wished the board and the district well in its mission to move forward rebuilding the educational programs.

A statement distributed to reporters Friday said Young’s plans to retire are “not based on any request from the board of directors but on his desire to spend more time with his family.”

The board is expected to begin a search for a new superintendent.

Meanwhile, voters in the district voted Tuesday night to put a $21.9 million budget for 2006-07 before voters in a referendum in July. That proposal comes after the $22.5 million proposal was defeated June 13.