Central Lincoln County School System (AOS 93) Supt. Steve Bailey, a veteran of the South Portland School Dept., knows small schools.
Bailey, 60, of West Bath, began his career in education as a teacher at the John R. Graham School, a K-8 public school in Veazie with a student body barely 150 strong.
Not only the size, but also the style of government in the district (pre-consolidation Union 87) invites easy comparison to AOS 93. “The boards and the townspeople had very direct access to the school,” Bailey said.
From 1989-1998, Bailey was the principal of Dora L. Small School in South Portland. Despite the urban setting, the K-5 school, one of five public elementary schools in the city, had a student body in the low to mid 200s and an atmosphere “very similar to the feel of the schools that we have in AOS 93,” Bailey said.
A major difference between the South Portland School Dept. and AOS 93 is the sheer number of school boards – one in the former, nine in the latter.
The seven towns of AOS 93 all have elected school committees. Representatives of the Bremen, Damariscotta and Newcastle committees serve on the Great Salt Bay School Committee and the leaders of the municipal committees compose AOS 93’s governing body.
The boards mean more meetings and more late nights for Bailey, but he enjoys the direct interaction with the community.
“I like meeting all the people and they seem very dedicated to supporting education for all of their students,” Bailey said.
Bailey holds a bachelor’s degree in health and physical education from Springfield College, as well as a master’s degree in physical education and a certificate of advanced studies in educational leadership, both from the University of Maine at Orono.
During his first years at the John R. Graham School, Bailey began to take on administrative duties at the request of the school’s principal, all while taking post-graduate classes at UMO.
Seven years in, Bailey became the principal. The position “gave me an opportunity to deal with all aspects of the school, not just teaching and coaching,” he said.
Bailey’s interest in academics extended outside his subject matter as a teacher (health, physical education and math) and into “helping students succeed” in a bigger way.
For seven years thereafter, Bailey doubled as principal and math teacher. His post-Veazie career includes a stint as the principal of Main Street School in Exeter, N.H. and a decade each as principal of Dora L. Small School and director of curriculum, instruction and assessment at the South Portland School Dept.
From 2007 until June 30 of this year, Bailey was the South Portland district’s assistant superintendent.
The election of Gov. Paul LePage and subsequent changes to retirement benefits for teachers, administrators and other state workers “started my wife and I thinking about how much longer we’re going to be in this education game,” Bailey said. (Bailey’s wife, Kerry Bailey, is the principal of Harpswell Community School.)
The couple, after consideration, decided they weren’t ready for retirement yet.
“We’ve got our health, we’ve got our energy, we’ve got our interest,” Bailey said, and together, they decided to serve “at least another five years… involved in this aspect of education.”
Bailey had been looking for a superintendency, but didn’t want to relocate. Shortly after the couple’s mutual decision to delay retirement, the top positions in AOS 93, Bath and Topsham became available.
Bailey felt the strongest connection to the AOS 93 job.
Bailey’s roots in the area run deep. His great-grandparents owned a farm on Hammond Road in Damariscotta, less than a mile south of the AOS 93 office.
“Every summer we would vacation and camp at Seawall Campground in Acadia,” Bailey said. “On our way back to New Hampshire, we’d stop and visit my great aunt who still lived at the farmhouse at the same time.”
Bailey’s relatives no longer own the farm, which now makes up portions of the Great Salt Bay Community School property and the Whaleback Shell Midden State Historic Site. His great-grandparents, aunts and uncles are buried in Bethlehem Cemetery, only a short walk away.
“I’ve been coming through Damariscotta through all my growing up years,” Bailey said. “In lots of ways, it was like coming home.”
Bailey was hired April 5 and started his new job July 1. “I hit the ground running,” he said, devoting a lot of attention to the ongoing construction of a $12 million-plus elementary school in Jefferson and to his first round of school committee meetings.
“The schools are in a good spot to begin the year,” Bailey said.
Bailey is also focusing on the development of “a more consistent curriculum and assessment system” and “short-term and long-term goals for maintenance of [district] facilities.”
It’s important, particularly under present economic circumstances, to “use the budget wisely to support both the educational and academic needs as well as the needs of facilities and transportation,” Bailey said. “I don’t anticipate any extra money being available for the schools.”
As for curriculum and assessment – where Bailey’s experience in South Portland should serve the district well – it’s important for students across the district to graduate eighth grade “equally well-prepared” for what lies beyond, Bailey said.
Bailey’s busy schedule hasn’t kept him from enjoying his surroundings. He doesn’t plan to relocate (his 30-minute commute actually “shaves about 15-20 minutes off” the commute to South Portland), but he does want to deepen his involvement in the local community. He enjoys sampling local restaurants and has already started attending the meetings of a local Rotary chapter.
“I’m really pleased to be here,” Bailey said. “The people have been absolutely wonderful.”
“I know we’ll have challenges – every school system does,” Bailey said, but his first impression of AOS 93 bodes well for the future. “Everyone I’ve met so far has been very interested in what’s best for the students as well as the taxpayers [and] the residents of the towns.”
