Top spots filled on Maine education board

AUGUSTA – A retired teacher and a former superintendent will take on the No. 1 and No. 2 spots on the State Board of Education on July 1. Ann Weisleder and Connie Goldman were elected during the board’s June meeting.

Weisleder takes over for Jim Carignan, who served as board chair for four years. She is a retired teacher who previously lived and worked in Corinth and SAD 64. She now serves the board as chair of the Certification and Higher Education Committee. She is also a board member of Penobscot Valley Senior College and has served on the board since 2005.

Goldman, who has served on the board since 2007, will replace Philip Dionne, who served as vice chair for six years. Goldman, of Cape Elizabeth, was an English teacher for 15 years, a school administrator for four years, and served as superintendent of Gorham schools from 1983 to 1990 and Cape Elizabeth schools from 1990 to 1996. She also has served as interim superintendent on North Haven, assistant professor in Saint Joseph’s College Distance Education Programs, and on state policy committees. Goldman served one term as a representative in the Legislature, sitting on the Education Committee.

Both were elected to one-year positions and both are eligible for re-election after serving their terms.