Millinocket will welcome a new school superintendent a month after its former superintendent abruptly resigned amid a dispute with town officials that left the school department without a budget to start the new fiscal year.
Town Manager Peter Jamieson said Thursday evening that Dr. Shelley Lane would start as superintendent of the Millinocket School Department next week.
“I would like to wish our school department and all our community’s students the very best as they head back into school next week, with a very special welcome to our new superintendent,” he said. “I look forward to working with you.”
Lane is the former director of state schools located in the Unorganized Territory, a Maine Department of Education position, according to her LinkedIn profile. She was previously principal of Kingman Elementary School in Kingman, and a teacher at Benedicta Elementary School in Aroostook County.
Efforts to reach Lane were unsuccessful, and school board chair Warren Steward did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Beth Peavey, the principal and athletic director of Stearns High School, had been serving as interim superintendent since Dr. Joshua McNaughton stepped down earlier this month, according to minutes from the Aug. 10 school board meeting.
McNaughton announced his resignation in July, following months of turmoil between the school department and town government that saw two school board members who had been critical of McNaughton quit in protest.
Town officials accused McNaughton last fall of violating state law by refusing to hand over access of school bank accounts to the treasurer, and of making adjustments to a budget proposal that did not match the school department’s revenue.
The town is slated to vote on a new school budget proposal next Tuesday, and two new members, Julie Hewke and Thomas Malcolm, have since joined the school board.