Melanie Blais’ teaching career started in the halls of Fort Fairfield Middle/High School in 2006.
She student taught under late social studies and English instructor Paul Lamoreau — who she called “legendary” — then was a longtime substitute in the town’s elementary school.
Nineteen years and positions in four school districts later, Blais has returned to where she began, taking over as MSAD 20 superintendent and curriculum coordinator on Tuesday.
“I’ve spent a lot of time reflecting on my career,” Blais said. “This does feel like a full-circle moment for me.”
Blais served as curriculum coordinator of Houlton-based RSU 29 for the previous seven years, and before that as principal of Washburn District Elementary School and Washburn District High School. She’s been asked to apply for superintendent roles before, Blais said, and always said no. But Fort Fairfield was different.
“I could see that when this position opened up, a lot of those teachers were still here. The retention says a lot about a district,” she said. “I know that things work well in this district, and the key players have that historical perspective.”
The MSAD 20 School Board officially hired Blais on April 8. The dual position carries a salary of $125,000.
She steps into a role that has had just one full-time occupant in the last decade, and for less than two years at that.
From 2016 to 2023, MSAD 20 shared a superintendent, Tim Doak, with Caribou and Stockholm’s RSU 39. When Doak left to become superintendent of the York School Department in 2023, the district hired Middle/High School principal Tanya Staples to fill the position. Staples stepped down in December to take a job in an Alabama school district. Longtime County principal and teacher John Kaleta held the role in the interim.
The lack of a long-term predecessor to learn from isn’t a challenge for Blais, because she knows the previous leaders.
“Having the change in those structures, I don’t know that I have any apprehension about that,” she said. “I still have the ability to reach out to some of the people who have been leaders of the district in the past few years, which is going to help me an awful lot.”
Blais has talked with Doak, Staples and Kaleta to learn about the district and her position, and has met with nearly all the administrators, she said.
“Folks that are here in the district right now have done an outstanding job of reaching out and filling me in on different things and just trying to bring me up to speed,” Blais said. “So that will continue throughout the summer, I’m sure.”
Blais will lean on that support structure.
“My focus is going to be not so much on making change unless change is necessary,” she said. “I kind of look at this first year as just listening and learning and then trying to work with those constituents — parents, community members, the school board, administrators, students — to determine what needs to be changed or what we can improve upon.”
And despite working outside the classroom since 2013, Blais said she still carries the values that guided her as a teacher — chiefly a spirit of collaboration — with her every day.
“I’ve never forgotten what it’s like to be a teacher. I think that’s going to serve me well,” she said. “Teaching is not an easy job, and there are a lot of challenges that exist now that weren’t even in place when I was teaching. I think we’re all teachers, no matter what our title is.”
