Howard Colter, longtime superintendent for the Mount Desert Island Regional School System, has been chosen by the Cape Elizabeth School Board to lead the local school district as interim superintendent for the new school year.
The board was scheduled to meet on Tuesday, after the Current’s deadline, to finalize Colter’s contract and officially welcome him to the Cape schools. Colter will earn $125,000 and will start on July 1. His appointment runs through June 30, 2017.
Elizabeth Scifres, chairwoman of the Cape Elizabeth School Board, said this week that Colter was chosen for his “sharp communication skills” and “the breadth and depth of his experience” in leading school districts throughout New England and in California.
“I think we’re in good hands and I hope everyone will welcome Howard and that we will all work together for a positive school year,” she said.
The board began its search for a new superintendent this past winter after Meredith Nadeau announced she would be resigning to take up the superintendency in Newmarket, N.H., at the end of this school year.
The board decided to seek an interim superintendent after both of its finalists for the permanent post withdrew from consideration in late April. At that time, in a letter to the community, Scifres said it was not unusual for a school district to go through more than search for a new superintendent.
In a prior interview, Scifres also told the Current that “the superintendent of schools is incredibly important, not only to the school district, but to the community. Hiring a superintendent is arguably the most critical job of a school board.”
Scifres also said the board “takes its charge of finding the right match for our district very seriously and is committed to hiring the best person it can to lead the Cape Elizabeth schools.”
This week, both Scifres and Colter were clear that his appointment as superintendent is for one year only.
“We’re taking it one step at a time at this point,” Scifres said, adding that the School Board would likely renew its search for a permanent superintendent sometime this fall.
She said the board is “very pleased” with Colter, who would be expected to create the school budget for the 2017-2018 fiscal year before leaving next summer.
Colter, 70, who is leaving his job with the Mount Desert Island Regional School System, said this week that he is transitioning toward retirement, which is one reason the interim superintendent position in Cape Elizabeth is attractive.
He said the biggest challenges in being the interim superintendent would include understanding the culture of the schools and the community, as well as making sure he keeps Cape moving forward.
“The school district has a strategic plan that it’s following carefully,” Colter said this week. “My goal is just to keep things moving forward, keeping steady ahead and helping to position the district for another full-blown (superintendent) search.”
Colter’s other goals include being “encouraging and supportive of the staff and students and listening well.” He also said he is “excited by the opportunity to connect with the three schools and getting to see students and teachers at work.”
Overall, he said, “I’m impressed by the schools and how year in and year out they provide a top-drawer education. They have a long record of success and do really good work preparing students.”
Scifres said the School Board met with two candidates for interim superintendent and decided that Colter was the best fit.
“He brings a broader (educational) view to Cape,” she said.
Colter led the Mount Desert schools for a total of 16 years, with an eight-year break in between. Originally from California, he has a master’s degree in education from Tufts University and his school administration credentials from the University of San Francisco.
He served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War and has been married for 43 years. He and his wife have three grown sons, one of whom lives in Maine. The other two live in North Carolina and Colorado.
Colter, his wife and their golden retriever plan to move into an apartment this summer, either in Cape or a nearby community, because he wants to be “accessible, visible and a full part of the school community for the whole year.”
He first moved his family east to New England to serve as the superintendent for the Mount Greylock school district in the Berkshires region of Massachusetts. He started his career in education as a high school teacher, then became principal of the Potter Valley Community High and Elementary Schools in Potter Valley, Calif. The other school districts Colter has served as superintendent include several in New Hampshire.
Colter originally wanted to become a philosophy professor because he enjoyed “thinking critically about ethics and morals.” However, while he was still in college, he began teaching high school dropouts.
“I fell in love with working with that age group, and I was motivated by the issues these kids faced. I thought I could make a difference and help them realize their potential,” he said this week.
He visited the Berkshires while in graduate school, and when the superintendent post for the Mount Greylock school district opened up he applied thinking that “it would be neat” to have his children grow up in New England.
Colter was attracted to the Mount Desert school district because his grandfather was originally from the coast of Maine, and he’d always wanted to live on Maine’s seashore, as well.
Howard Colter, superintendent for the Mount Desert Island Regional School System, will serve as the interim superintendent in Cape Elizabeth starting on July 1.
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