In a brief meeting prior to RSU 48’s inaugural budget vote on Tuesday, May 6, the Great Salt Bay School Committee unanimously approved a two-year probationary contract for a new principal.
Committee members voted 7-0 to appoint Darcy Dakin as the school’s principal the evening of Tuesday, May 6. Committee members Sam Belknap and Christa Thorpe were absent.
Dakin will succeed Kim Schaff, whose contract with the school expires on Monday, June 30. Schaff has been principal of the Great Salt Bay Community School staff since 2013. The Great Salt Bay School Committee unanimously opted not to renew her contract during a meeting on March 12.
Since March, a committee of 12 people has been conducting interviews to fill the principal role, according Great Salt Bay School Committee Chair August Avantaggio. After conducting two rounds of interviews for each candidate, the committee landed on Dakin.
“We found that her philosophies aligned with what we were looking for to lead our school, and we look forward to welcoming her,” said RSU 48 Superintendent Lynsey Johnston.
Dakin is currently the principal at Miles Lane School in Bucksport, which serves students in first to fourth grade. The school is part of RSU 25, which includes the towns of Bucksport, Orland, Prospect, and Verona Island.
Dakin has experience as a middle school teacher, a special education coordinator, a principal, and assistant principal, according to Johnston. She is about to earn her certificate in curriculum coordination and is “a leader in experiential learning,” or the process of learning by doing.
Johnston said she and the committee hope Dakin’s expertise in experiential learning will be utilized to inform teaching practices at Great Salt Bay Community School.
“Darcy has a really great energy and put us all at ease immediately, I think, when she walked in the room, and she has a lot of experience and a lot of positive energy,” said Great Salt Bay School Committee member Betsy Ball.
Dakin will likely be in attendance at the Great Salt Bay School Committee meeting in June, said Avantaggio.
Dakin’s contract will begin on Tuesday, July 1.
The next meeting of the Great Salt Bay School Committee is at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, June 11 in the Great Salt Bay Community School library.
