The selection Wednesday of the Windham superintendent to lead a newly consolidated school district drew criticism of the hiring process and questions about whether the smaller Raymond would be overshadowed in the merger between the two districts.

Sandy Prince, who has led the Windham School Department for the last six years, was awarded the job after an 8-1 vote, with Raymond representative Alizah Shriver in the minority. He will continue to serve under a contract signed last year with the Windham School Department, which pays him $119,600 this year and runs through June 30, 2011.

But two Raymond School Committee members questioned whether the new board handled the hiring process correctly, and whether Raymond Superintendent Sandra Caldwell was given a fair shot at the top job.

The discussion that followed the remarks by Teresa Sadak and Roger Ginn highlighted the sensitive nature of the consolidation process, and cemented for Windham-Raymond School Board members the realization that Raymond residents may feel pushed aside by their more populated partner, which has six votes to Raymond’s three on the new board.

“There is a perception issue,” said Board member Kane Loukas of Windham. “I think there is some work we need to do as a board.”

The disagreement began over an executive session held by the board last month in which they discussed with Prince and Caldwell the open superintendent position. Following the meeting, Chairman Toby Pennels wrote a motion that put forward Prince’s name. In an interview after the executive session, Pennels said the board, in light of the coming tough budget process, did not want to go through a long and time-consuming search.

Under state law, the board does not have to conduct a wide and open search for a superintendent. On Wednesday, Pennels said it was clear from talking with Prince that they had an exceptional candidate who wanted the job.

“Sandy Prince is an excellent superintendent. He understands the educational objectives. I think he will serve us quite well in the future,” said Pennels. “He asked for the job. He wants the job.”

Pennels also said he left the executive session with the understanding that Caldwell did not want to be the new superintendent, a sentiment echoed by other board members, including Catriona Sangster, one of the Raymond representatives, and Mike Mack of Windham.

“It was pretty clear that you had mixed feelings,” Mack said to Caldwell.

But Caldwell said she was never asked to declare her candidacy for the job, and felt the school board could have learned more about her talents and qualifications, especially given that she is under contract with the department and her future role is yet to be defined. Caldwell, whose part-time contract pays her $69,836 this year and runs through June 30, 2011, said Prince will do an outstanding job, but she feels the decision came too quickly, and the process was unclear.

Jeraldine Keane, a board member of Raymond, agreed, saying that the selection process was too ambiguous in assuming Caldwell had to put forth her candidacy.

“I think that is unfortunate because I think it was a missed opportunity,” she said.

The board also disagreed, along town lines, on the name of the new school department, a debate that also underscored how delicate the consolidation process can be at times.

Pennels placed on the agenda a motion to name the department the Windham-Raymond School Department in place of the RSU 14 moniker provided by the state. Sangster wondered why it was not Raymond-Windham, which was used on some of the documents issued to the board over the last few weeks.

The names were the result of a contest held by the board that gave students, faculty and other residents an opportunity to submit suggestions, board member Mike Duffy of Windham said. Raymond residents were given an opportunity for input, Ginn said. As for the Windham-Raymond configuration, Ginn said, “It sounded better.”