Edward McDonough puts student achievement at the top, says a school board leader in Portsmouth, which is losing him to RSU 5.

Edward McDonough spoke only of opportunity on Feb. 26, the day after Regional School Unit 5 directors gave him unanimous backing as the new superintendent.

McDonough replaces Bill Michaud and Mike Lafortune, whose one-year run as co-superintendents ends on June 1.

According to Michaud, he and Lafortune will negotiate with the board for the authority to sign legal documents and conduct other official duties until McDonough begins on Sept. 1. McDonough, meanwhile, plans on being in the superintendent’s office in Freeport occasionally during August to become acclimated to the job.

McDonough comes to RSU 5 from the Portsmouth School Department in New Hampshire, where he also served as superintendent. He will come on board seven months after Freeport residents, in a close vote, decided to remain with RSU 5, following a year-long look at withdrawal. Freeport is by far the largest of the three towns in RSU 5, which also includes Durham and Pownal.

“It’s on the minds of the school board, in terms of moving forward,” McDonough said from his Portsmouth office. “I’m here to do the work of improving schools. This strikes me as a very strong district. And there’s an orientation to just get stronger.”

McDonough, 59, of Wells, signed a three-year contract. He will earn $120,000 for the first year.

Michaud and Lafortune agreed to be interim superintendents following the resignation of Shannon Welsh last winter. They shepherded RSU 5 through sometimes-contentious withdrawal negotiations that took up nearly the entire year of 2014. The two also will guide RSU 5 through its budget process, the hope being that three towns will show some unity this June when it comes time to vote on that budget. Only once in the six-year history of RSU 5 has Durham or Pownal – it was Durham – voted in favor of an RSU 5 budget.

“I saw this hiring as an opportunity to bring us forward,” said Beth Parker of Freeport, a member of the school board and chairwoman of the Superintendent Search Committee. “He has a lot of experience and some qualities that we’re looking for to move us forward.”

McDonough will arrive at his Freeport office just as proficiency-based education is introduced to Freeport High School and a building committee carries out plans for a $14.6 million renovation of the school.

“It’s a great opportunity for me,” he said.

McDonough has been superintendent in Portsmouth since 2009. Prior to that, he spent 21 years as an educator in Wells and Ogunquit schools, the last seven as superintendent. He was a teacher, coach, principal and assistant superintendent in that district.

McDonough said he likes the focus on personal instruction he has witnessed during tours of RSU 5 schools.

“There’s strong programming in academics, arts and athletics,” he said.

Board Chairman Nelson Larkins of Freeport applauded the search committee for its work.

“Ed McDonough is an outstanding educator and experienced administrator,” Larkins said. “We are confident that his leadership will move RSU 5 forward to even higher levels of achievement.”

McDonough lives in Wells with his wife Pam, a guidance counselor in Exeter, N.H., and son Seamus, a junior at Wells High. The couple’s daughter, Kathleen, is a graduate of Cornell University.

He holds a bachelor of arts in English from Suffolk University in Boston. McDonough earned his master’s in English from the University of Maine, and a law degree from Franklin Pierce Law Center in Concord, N.H.

Leslie Stevens, chairwoman of the Portsmouth School Board, said that RSU 5 is lucky to be getting McDonough.

“The students and the teachers will really appreciate him,” Stevens said. “Everything he did here was about students doing as well as they possibly could. He really puts student achievement at the top.”

Edward McDonoughBeth Parker, a member of the Regional School Unit 5 board and chairwoman of the Superintendent Search Committee,  converses with superintendent-elect Edward McDonough prior to the meeting on Feb. 25 at Freeport High School. Staff photo by Larry Grard