The three candidates for the superintendency of Cape Elizabeth schools met interested community members during three sessions at Cape Town Hall this week. All three are from Maine and are currently superintendents at other school systems in Maine.

“It’s a good opportunity for the community to meet the candidates,” said School Board Chairman Kevin Sweeney. “I’m not an educator … to bring in educators to question the educators seems to be very important.”

Richard Mullen, an English teacher at the high school, said the ability to meet the candidates was beneficial because he said the important thing is not the answer to a question, “but how they say it … you can assess the quality of the mind.”

The Cape School Board will meet on March 21 to discuss the hiring of the position, but no timeline has been set. If any community members have questions about the candidates or the hiring process they should contact Sweeney at 767-1077.

Denison Gallaudet

Denison Gallaudet, currently superintendent of schools in Richmond, said he is “not a typical educator.”

Public education is his second career; until 1995 he worked as an investment and commercial banker. He received a doctorate in educational administration from the University of Maine in 1999.

Richmond is similar in size to Cape Elizabeth, with three schools and about 600 students. As superintendent he even teaches an AP class at the high school.

Gallaudet said his leadership style is “to provide the tools for good people to do their best work, serving as an example yourself.”

He said “teachers are being overwhelmed” by the Maine Learning Results, which seem to be poorly designed.

Gallaudet often returned to his business career for examples, saying his skills can translate well into the education world.

“A school is not a business … but there are parts of it that sometimes feel like they are,” he said.

Gallaudet applauded Cape for the formation of the Cape Elizabeth Education Foundation, and promised to spend a large amount of time fund-raising.

Alan Hawkins

Alan Hawkins is superintendent of the Wiscasset school district, a position he has held since 2002. He has lived in South Portland for more than 30 years, about two miles from Cape Town Hall.

He began his teaching career in Millinocket before moving to South Portland and a teaching position at Small Elementary School. In 1992 he assumed the role of assistant principal at that school, though somewhat reluctantly.

“I had absolutely no desire to be an administrator,” Hawkins said.

He then became principal of Small and Kaler elementary schools, before assuming the job of principal at Memorial Middle School, a job he held for 13 years.

“Cape Elizabeth offers an awful lot of opportunities for an administrator and a superintendent,” Hawkins said.

“There needs to be leadership … to continue where we want to go,” he said. He also said a strong tie with the community is imperative to a healthy school system.

“The first priority I have is to get to know the system,” Hawkins said. “A super coming in here needs to find out what is Cape Elizabeth, what is this school system.”

He said the challenge of the Maine Learning Results is not to get so tied up in the Learning Results that it interferes with the teaching of the children.

“There is no job as demanding as being a classroom teacher,” Hawkins said. Kids learn in all sorts of ways and, “we need to be sure we’re offering the opportunity to do that.”

Shannon Welsh

Shannon Welsh spoke with interested community members on Wednesday afternoon. She is currently the superintendent of Lisbon/Durham Union 30 school system.

Like the others, she cited Cape Elizabeth’s desire to be one of the best school systems in the country as a motivating factor behind her applying to the position.

Her leadership style is hands-on. She speaks with her administrative team frequently and has them write up their short and long term goals.

“What I try to do is ask questions that prompt people to think,” Welsh said.

The Maine Learning Results are an area of concern for Welsh. She has heard from teachers that they don’t want to lose the quality and high standards of the system, but the focus needs to be narrowed.

“It was never intended to become the mountain it has become,” Welsh said. She has also worked on the state level as a member of the Maine School Superintendents Association legislative committee that participates in focus group discussions with the commissioner of education about how well the system is working.