Saco superintendent discusses his departure, talks about his future plans

SACO — Outgoing Superintendent of Schools Dominic DePatsy said he and the School Board were moving in two different directions.

DePatsy, 49, had in November given his resignation effective June 30, the end of the fiscal year. This changed after an executive session at the March 24 School Board meeting, when it was announced that DePatsy would be leaving “no later than April 20.”

When asked in a recent phone interview why he was leaving earlier than originally anticipated, DePatsy said while he worked well with the former school board, the current school board “didn’t want to go in the same direction” as he did.

He said the decision for him to leave a few months early was a mutual decision between him and the board.

“No hard feelings,” said DePatsy.

School Board Chairman Kevin Lafortune concurred that it was a mutual decision between DePatsy and the board.

“We were heading in different directions and it was a mutual decision to part ways earlier than previously planned,” he said.

Under the agreement made between DePatsy and the school board, DePatsy will get paid through the end of the fiscal year.

DePatsy said he is transitioning out of his role, and the school board is taking over many of the responsibilities.

“It’s better for them to take the reigns and run with it,” he said.

He praised the work of former school board members Michel Ohayon, Edna Ben-Ami, Garrett Abrahamson, Lynn Leary, Steve Shiman, Emily Walters, Cynthia Chadwick-Granger and Stan Mozden as well as the dedication of Arthur Tardif, who is the former chairman and currently on the board.

DePatsy has accepted a position as the Superintendent of Schools on Long Island, Maine, beginning July 1.

He said he is excited to work for the new school district, which has one school that serves students in Pre-K through fifth grade. With such a small school community, the job will be more hands on, he said.

“I really miss being with the kids,” said DePatsy.

This is DePatsy’s 28^th year in education, and started out in the field as an educational technician. He became the superintendent in Saco in 2015. The position in Long Island will be 50 days a year, which will allow DePatsy to pursue his other love – real estate.

DePatsy recently became a licensed real estate sales agent. He has been involved for many years in real estate, starting out in rehabbing houses and moving on to own commercial real estate.

“I was flipping houses before it was popular,” he said.

DePatsy said that while Saco could be “very political” he was thankful for opportunities given to him, including covering the cost of his doctoral degree.

Among his accomplishments were implementing a strategic plan, improving special education, increasing technology and creating a Pre-K program, he said.

Lafortune said the search for a new superintendent will involve three distinct activities: selecting someone to complete this school year, selecting someone for a one-year interim position starting July 1st, and selecting a permanent Superintendent.

A committee was formed this week will begin reviewing candidates conducting interviews this week for someone to fill the position for the end of the school year. Lafortune said the school board could select someone for this role as early as next week.

Lafortune said the search for an interim superintendent, by law, has to be a separate activity. This will begin soon as well. The entire School Board will be involved with this process with interviews performed in executive sessions, he said. After the initial round of interviews, the School Board could decide to include other in the process, such as administrators or staff, but this is still to be determined, he said.

“We have several major items ahead of us over the next year including finalizing the plans for returning to full-time, in-person instruction this fall, starting the school construction process to replace one or more of our buildings, and finding a permanent Superintendent,” said Lafortune. “ The person selected as the Interim Superintendent for the 2021-2022 school year will help us with all of those activities in addition to managing the day to day operations of the school department.

Publisher Liz Gotthelf can be reached at newsdesk@sacobaynews.com.