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As a former Bangor School Committee member (2020-2023), psychologist and parent of recent Bangor High School graduates, I would like to express my unqualified support for outgoing Superintendent Jim Tager. In my years working with Tager, not once did I find him to be anything less than honest and thoughtful, with the best interests of students always driving his leadership decisions.
I was saddened to see Tager’s recent comments in the Bangor Daily News, not because I doubt the truth of his statements, but because I know this man of integrity and patience would only speak publicly about his frustrations if he had felt that doing so was necessary to keep the schools moving in a direction that ensures that they will meet the needs of our ever-changing community. Tager’s warm presence in the schools sent a message to students that they were cared about and that their education mattered. His decision to bring to the high school a health clinic that offered more than 1,500 Penobscot Community Health Care-funded mental health appointments this past year — not only serving these students’ mental health needs but keeping them in school — no doubt contributed to the highest graduation rate in the school’s history.
I am confident that, in time, Tager’s legacy as a path-breaker — making the already-excellent Bangor schools more inclusive and supportive of all students — will become clear. I look forward to the new superintendent continuing the work that Tager started.
Clare Mundell
Bangor
