Tim Gagnon has served as interim assistant principal twice before during his nine years in Brunswick schools.

Now the job is his for real.

School board members conducted a final interview with the Bath native and longtime technology teacher during an executive session prior to their public meeting Wednesday. Once back in public session, the board voted unanimously to appoint Gagnon as former Brunswick High School Assistant Principal Donna Borowick’s permanent replacement.

Due to the unexpected resignation May 22 of former principal Art Abelmann, Borowick — who previously planned to retire on June 30 — will stay on as interim principal until Dec. 31.

Gagnon, 43, graduated from Morse High School in 1988, then earned his undergraduate degree at University of Southern Maine. He spent one year teaching at a small school in the tiny town of Milford, north of Old Town, before he was hired in Lewiston. After almost nine years there, he returned to his Mid-coast roots.

Education in Maine can be a small world: Assistant Superintendent Greg Bartlett was Gagnon’s middle school assistant principal at Bath Middle School.

“Guess I haven’t gone too far away,” Gagnon said Wednesday, punctuating the wisecrack with a smile. “I’ve definitely got ambitions to climb the (administrative) ladder, but I’m happy right here now. There’s a lot to be done.”

His immediate goal is to find his own replacement for the technology education department which, due to his promotion, has been reduced to a one-person roster.

“I’m going to market the position to the Technology Education Engineering Association of Maine,” he said. “I’d love to steal one of those people. The Tech Ed degree is a hard one to get these days.”

Gagnon’s own prior experience in the job was most of what convinced the district to hire from within, rather than conduct an outside search. That Borowick’s extension is only six months could be interpreted as an indication that, for the principal’s job, another in-house promotion could be coming.

jtleonard@timesrecord.com