South Portland will lose its school superintendent at the end of the school year.

Wendy Houlihan announced at a school board meeting on Monday, Nov. 13, that she would be leaving her post as superintendent of South Portland schools on June 30, 2007, in order to move and spend more time with her family in Vermont and New Hampshire.

“I will miss her,” South Portland Mayor Maxine Beecher said this week. “We didn’t always agree, but she was always willing to sit down and talk about why,” she said.

Beecher described Houlihan as someone who worked hard to get things done.

“She is a wonderful boss,” said Maria Sorensen, Houlihan’s secretary. She said Houlihan has been fair, kind and focused at her job.

Houlihan, who is in her third year as superintendent, said she gave her notice in November so the city had plenty of time to recruit a qualified applicant for the job. She also worked for two years as the assistant superintendent.

“It was a very hard decision,” said Houlihan on Monday.

She said she has enjoyed her time and cited recent accomplishments by South Portland schools: an increase in students going on to higher education, more advanced placement classes at the high school and an increase in standardized test scores. She believes finding more space for the high school and middle schools will be the next big goal for the South Portland schools.

Houlihan will be moving to the New Hampshire/Vermont area where her daughter’s growing family, her 86-year-old mother and her three sisters live. She said she does not have any job currently lined up, but she does not plan on retiring.

The school department has already begun advertising for her replacement.

Wendy Houlihan is resigning as superintendent of South Portland schools in June of 2007.