WATERBORO — School Superintendent John A. Davis will be retiring in July 2016 but plans to begin reducing his workload this July.

As the transition unfolds, the RSU 57 School Board plans to hire an assistant superintendent for a one-year contract, said Chairman Karla Bergeron in a telephone interview Thursday.

Davis’ retirement announcement came Wednesday and was unexpected, Bergeron said.

Davis, in an email, said he has no plans to pursue another job and is happy in the district.

“(It is) just my time to pursue other adventures,” he said.

“He wants to spend more time enjoying life,” said Bergeron. She said the school board has been “110 percent pleased” with Davis’ performance as superintendent.

Bergeron said Davis will work on campus three days a week starting July 1 and be on call electronically two days a week.

Davis was named superintendent for RSU 57 in 2011. He’s been a school teacher and administrator since 1976 and became a superintendent in 1987. He spent much of his career in Alaska.

RSU 57 educates students from Alfred, Limerick, Lyman, Newfield, Shapleigh and Waterboro.

Bergeron said the assistant superintendent post will be advertised, and a committee composed of six school board members, administrators, teachers, parents and other community members will be formed to review applications and decide which candidates to interview.

She said it is the school committee’s goal to have an assistant superintendent for one year and that the current thinking is that the assistant’s job would not be one that continues once a superintendent is named.

“Our hope is that the candidate would move into the superintendent’s position,” she said.

While the budget impact of the change is pegged at about $50,000, Bergeron said that will be absorbed by what she described as “huge” savings on medical insurance premiums and bids for some other items coming in lower than expected.

She said Davis took a significant reduction in salary and benefits.

Davis currently earns a salary of about $107,000 annually. He said the exact figure has not been finalized, but he expects it to be in the $40,000 range when he begins the new arrangement July 1.

According to Bergeron, the school board plans to select an assistant superintendent in May, with an anticipated start in July or August.

“It is expected the assistant superintendent will help with the day-to-day operations of the district and provide additional support with several state mandates ”“ to include the new teacher evaluation system, performance-based education and developing the requirements for the various school improvement initiatives,” Bergeron said in a letter to the district at large. “We have a wonderful school district that is full of so many very capable and dedicated people who are educating a great group of students. I hope you will join me in helping the board as it prepares the district for a change in leadership which I know will be an important next step for the district.”

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 (local call in Sanford) or 282-1535, ext. 327 or twells@journaltribune.com.