William Michaud, now the interim superintendent in the Yarmouth School District, and Michael Lafortune, retired since 2011 as superintendent in Regional School Unit 23, will share the duties of interim superintendent in RSU 5.

The RSU5 board of directors made the announcement on Monday. Michaud will be interim superintendent and Lafortune will serve as his assistant. They will succeed Shannon Welsh, the only superintendent RSU 5 has had since it was formed in 2009. She will retire at the end of the month.

Michaud, 62, said Monday he will end his duties at Yarmouth on June 30, at take the reins at RSU 5 on July 1. A lawyer, Michaud said that experience could prove helpful as Freeport goes through the process of a possible withdrawal from RSU 5, which also includes Durham and Pownal.

“I don’t think it can hurt,” Michaud said. “They have their own counsel, of course, but one of the things that I bring to the job is I can talk the same language as their counsel.”

Michaud and Lafortune each will earn $61,481.50 in salary and $13,578 in lieu of benefits. Welsh retires with a $118,234 salary, not including benefits.

Michaud, of Portland, has worked in Maine education for 29 years, starting out as a history and government teacher and then principal at Westbrook High School. He then took the position of superintendent at School Administrative District 16 of Hallowell/Farmingdale. Michaud was superintendent in Bath prior to the formation of RSU 1, then spent five years as superintendent in the Scarborough School District.

He retired from education in 2006, then earned a law degree from the University of Maine Law School in 2009. When the Yarmouth superintendent left, Michaud agreed to fill the breach.

Now, he’s doing it again – with a partner who has been through the withdrawal process.

“My administrative partner, Mike Lafortune, was the founding superintendent of RSU 23,” Michaud said. “So he certainly knows how an RSU works. “We’ll be able to complement each other.”

Two of the three communities in RSU 23, Saco and Dayton, are withdrawing from the district at the end of this month, leaving Old Orchard Beach as its only town.

Lafortune was not available for comment prior to the Tri-Town Weekly’s deadline Monday.

Michaud grew up in Portland and graduated from Portland High School. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Southern Maine, his master’s in science education from USM, and his certificate of advanced study from Harvard.

According to an RSU 5 press release, Michaud will generally be in the schools Monday through Wednesday morning, and Lafortune will be in the schools Wednesday afternoon through Friday. They will also be available for additional times and duties as necessary.

“The board feels very strongly this arrangement will work well because Bill and Mike have decades of experience running Maine schools, they have worked together in similar roles within the Bath schools, and they are, simply put, the right people for our students,” the press release continued.

Nelson Larkins, school board chairman, had no additional comments other than what was included in the press release.

The community will have an opportunity to meet them before the next scheduled board meeting on June 11 at 6 p.m. at Freeport High School. The community is also invited to a farewell reception for Welsh, Tuesday, June 10, from 3-5 p.m., at the Hilton Garden Inn.

A closer look

A farewell reception for retiring Regional School Unit 5 Superintendent Shannon Welsh will be held Tuesday, June 10, from 3-5 p.m., at the Hilton Garden Inn, 5 Park St., Freeport. The community can meet the new interim superintendents, William Michaud and Michael Lafortune, Wednesday, June 11, at 6 p.m., at Freeport High School.