FREEPORT – Regional School Unit 5 directors are facing another dilemma. In addition to negotiating with the RSU Withdrawal Committee to learn if the district will even exist at the end of the year, the board now must find someone to replace the superintendent.

Shannon Welsh announced her retirement Jan. 10. Welsh said Sunday that she made a five-year commitment to RSU 5 when she became what would be its first and only superintendent in 2009. Welsh, who earns $118,234, will retire on June 30.

Freeport residents on Dec. 17 voted to explore withdrawal from RSU 5, which also includes Durham and Pownal. The Withdrawal Committee will begin negotiations toward that end with the school board later this month.

Welsh said she cannot speak for the board, but that an interim superintendent might be the way to go following her retirement.

“Our goal is to make sure a good plan is in place for the education of the students,” she said.

Nelson Larkins, chairman of the RSU 5 board, announced Welsh’s retirement last Thursday. Welsh confirmed Sunday that she had planned all along to conclude her career following the current school season and do some travel.

Welsh, 57, said she will travel to Ireland

with friends in September, then reassess things. A Portland resident, she is the mother of two grown children.

“I’ll take a year for family, friends and fun and then decide what comes next in life,” Welsh said. “I’m not sure if retirement is permanent. I may do something interim, I may do a complete career change. I have been very fortunate in life to have this opportunity. I don’t have to work. I choose to work.”

Regarding Freeport’s vote on Dec. 17 to explore the withdrawal process from RSU 5, Welsh said it is “up to the citizens” to weigh educational opportunities and financial impact. With the establishment of the Withdrawal Committee, a second and final vote on Freeport’s exit from the district is likely before the end of the year.

Welsh has been a superintendent for 12 years, having come to RSU 5 from the former School Union 30 of Lisbon. She began her career as a special education teacher, and has been a principal in Cumberland schools.

Larkins made the following statement on the RSU 5 website: “I am saddened to announce our superintendent, Shannon Welsh, will be retiring on June 30, 2014. Shannon has been a tireless advocate for our students and schools since being selected as the first superintendent of RSU 5 in 2009. She has provided the leadership necessary to bring three separate school systems together into one consolidated community. But she did more. Her cutting edge educational skills, coupled with amazing administrative abilities, have allowed RSU 5 to create a strategic plan, reform professional learning, consolidate services, shape capital plans dating out 20 years, expand our curriculum, and spearhead the successful high school renovation bond.

“I can personally attest to the fact Shannon has always put our kids first. Her passion for education and children will be hard to replace. I want to personally thank her for all she has done for the district, all the great changes she has implemented, and the positive, lasting impression she will leave on the district.”

Larkins said that the board will keep the public informed regarding the process to find her replacement.

Welsh, a North Dakota native, earned her doctorate in educational administration from Boston College in 2005. She taught for 14 years in Vermont and Maine prior to becoming an administrator.

Shannon Welsh