Heather Perry, who leads RSU 3, is the only finalist to replace Ted Sharp as school superintendent.

While it’s not official, the Gorham School Committee announced this week that Heather Perry is the sole finalist in a search to replace Superintendent Ted Sharp, who is retiring.

Perry, 41, is superintendent at Regional School Unit 3, based in Unity.

Dennis Libby, chairman of the Gorham School Committee, told the Town Council on Tuesday that the committee is excited about Perry as its finalist.

But, he added, “It’s not a done deal.”

According to the Gorham School Committee, the search process will continue with reference checks, site visits and a public forum scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 21, from 6-7:30 p.m., in the auditorium at Gorham Middle School on Weeks Road.

“We’re excited to continue the search process with Heather,” Libby told town councilors.

Confirmation of Perry’s appointment as Gorham’s superintendent could come as early as next month.

Sharp, 71, who became superintendent in the fall of 2004, retires from the Gorham position on June 30 after 11 years on the job.

Perry wrote in an email that she applied for Gorham’s position because of the district’s “great academic and cultural history.

“When the position opened up, I quickly got online to learn more about the school system and the community. What I saw was a school system rich in tradition, and success, where students, staff and community clearly had a sense of pride and identity around success of their schools,” she wrote.

Perry was named the sole finalist from a slate of numerous candidates applying for the job.

Libby told the American Journal on Jan. 1 that the Gorham search committee had 17 applicants.

“We interviewed five candidates,” Libby wrote.

RSU 3 represents 11 communities and eight schools in the district, including Mount View High School. Libby said RSU 3 has approximately 1,600 students.

By comparison, Gorham has five schools with a total enrollment of 2,648 students as of Oct. 1.

The school budget for this fiscal year in Gorham is $34.1 million, while the RSU 3 budget is $19.4 million, according to its website.

Perry has also been superintendent at Union 60 in Greenville, as well as Maine School Administrative District 12 in Jackman and the West Forks Municipal School Unit.

She is married and is the mother of a college freshman. Perry and her husband, who works for a Greenville company, own a home in Shirley.

If Perry is selected for the Gorham superintendent job, she said her plan would be first to rent in the Gorham area and travel home on weekends. For the long term, she would “transition” her family to southern Maine so they could live in Gorham or nearby.

Gorham’s 13-member search committee includes John Doyle, Bailey and Libby of the town’s School Committee; Assistant Superintendent Kathy Stankard and the superintendent’s administrative assistant, Rhonda Warren; teachers Michael Lortie and Amanda Cooper; administrator Jodie Mezzanotte; Finance Director Hollis Cobb; Town Council Chairman Michael Phinney; Town Manager David Cole; and residents Sarah Plummer and Chris Moody. The Maine School Management Association was hired to work as an adviser to the search committee.

Sharp announced his retirement two days before school commenced in late August and the School Committee in early September initiated a search to replace him.

The timeline called for a School Committee meeting in executive session on Jan. 5 to meet and interview the finalist, according to Libby.

Cobb could not be reached by the American Journal deadline on Wednesday, but Sharp’s salary is in the $130,000 range plus a performance bonus. Libby said in his Jan. 1 email that the salary for a new superintendent is yet to be determined.

Sharp succeeded Michael Moore in Gorham. Sharp guided Gorham through building Great Falls Elementary School and oversaw the district’s transitioning to three kindergarten-Grade 5 elementary schools. Sharp also led the district through massive job cuts during an economic downturn.

Heather Perry