School and municipal officials from all three Regional School Unit 5 towns are invited to an Oct. 8 workshop on superintendent searches.

Following a social gathering at 6 p.m., the workshop is scheduled for 6:30 at Pownal Elementary School.

RSU 5 is operating with co-superintendents, William Michaud and Michael LaFortune. They agreed to share the role following the retirement of Shannon Welsh, and will be on board until June 30. That also could be the final day that Freeport is a member of RSU 5, pending the town’s Nov. 4 vote on withdrawal. In that case, both RSU 5 and a stand-alone Freeport school unit would be searching for a superintendent.

“We’re including all people from Freeport, Durham and Pownal to learn how a superintendent’s search is done,” Michaud said.

Ron Barker, a consultant and former superintendent who once worked for Maine School Management Association, will facilitate the meeting. Michaud said that Barker has led several superintendent searches throughout the state.

“We want to get the information out there so they can move quickly forward, once there is a decision on withdrawal,” Michaud said. “We’ve got to get out in front of this.”

Michaud said that, according to Maine School Management Association, upward of 20 school units will be vying for superintendents next year, and perhaps as many as 30 will need new superintendents the following year.

On Sept. 15, Michaud sent a letter to the Durham Board of Selectmen and Budget Committee, the Freeport Town Council and Withdrawal Committee and the Pownal Board of Selectmen and Budget Committee.

He wrote, in part: “We strongly recommend that the search for permanent leadership begin as soon as possible after the November 4th election. Recent superintendent searches have revealed an extremely limited pool of qualified candidates. We have no reason to anticipate that this year will be any different.”

Maine School Management Association is a nonprofit federation of local school boards and superintendents that provides services to schools such as superintenent searches, as well as advice on finance, policy and collective bargaining issues.

Connie Brown, executive director, said that the organization leads around 90 percent of the superintendent searches conducted in the state. Brown concurred with Michaud regarding the thin talent pool.

“The average search turns out fewer than 10 applicants compared to 20 some 10 years ago,” Brown said. “If you get 10 applicants that are viable, you’ve had a very good search.”

The reasons, Brown said, are the demands of the job and the sometimes small differential between a superintendent’s and a principal’s salary. They have a day job at the office, and a night job with school board matters. The average superintendent in the state earns an annual salary of about $108,000, she said.

“Some principals at larger high schools are at that level,” she said.

Brown said that some small school units – Freeport alone or Durham and Pownal would fit that definition – have gone with part-time superintendents to save money.

“They find that doesn’t always fit the bill,” she said.