This Wednesday, April 25, is Administrative Professionals Day, and the MSAD #28 School Board wants to acknowledge our Superintendent and the work she does for our communities’ children. 

The job and responsibility for the Superintendent of Schools is “to provide leadership in developing and maintaining the best possible educational programs and services.” The children and citizens of Camden and Rockport are very fortunate to have Maria Libby as our Superintendent. Through working closely with Maria over the past three years, it has been our continued experience that she is competent, thoughtful, honest, and trustworthy. We have seen this time and again on hundreds of issues.

Maria has deep roots in our community. She has lived and worked here most of her life. She works hard, cares about details, asks questions, expects results, makes evidence-based decisions, continues to learn, and plans for the future. She is proactive in engaging the community around school issues and considers all sides of an issue and has no problem changing directions if the circumstances merit a shift. It’s that open mindset that allows for innovation and ultimately serves our kids and schools so well. 

Some of us have worked with Maria for years, some of us joined the board through experiences of working with Maria and other board members on projects such as the new middle school project and the new Strategic Plan for the high school. We are consistently impressed by her vision, leadership and desire to facilitate collaboration and creative discussion, while keeping an eye on moving a productive process forward.

And nobody works harder than Maria. She is at work early in the morning, at meetings in the evenings, and putting in far more hours than could be reasonably expected. She is deeply committed to our schools, our kids, and their health and future.

As to be expected, there are times when people in our community have different perspectives and disagree on school issues. Understandably, some people want to point fingers when decisions aren’t in line with what they want, and the Superintendent is an easy target. But this board knows that Maria’s integrity and desire to promote and enact what is best for our students, teachers and the quality of education is always her priority. That has been borne out in countless way the past three years. 

As a community, of course there will be differing perspectives and opinions, especially when dealing with historic buildings or beloved teachers. It’s important to ask questions, voice opinions and concerns and bring those into discussion. This is a part of healthy community and good civic discourse. But, it’s also important to step back and look at the whole and hold that picture as well. While it’s hard when you disagree with something, holding the good along with the concern or disagreement is also a key tenant of healthy community and discourse. Whether people agree or disagree with Maria’s perspective or the board’s perspective on a particular issue, let’s please keep in mind that few of us could step into her shoes. She has a daunting and complex role. We are truly fortunate to have someone as dedicated and skilled as Maria working hard for our community. 

MSAD 28 School Board 

Sarah Bradley Prindiville, Rockport

Lynda Chilton, Camden

Matthew Daily, Camden

Marcia Dietrich, Rockport

Becky Flanagan, Camden

Carole Gartley, Rockport

Elizabeth Noble, Camden

Peter Orne, Camden