SAD 44 Superintendent Dave Murphy holds a cake congratulating him on being named Superintendent of the Year last month by the Maine School Superintendents Association. Surrounding him are members of the school board. Bethel Citizen photo by Samuel Wheeler

BETHEL — The directors of School Administrative District 44 have voted 12-1 to drop a policy on who can serve as their chairman.

The policy adopted in 2017 required prior service as vice chairman or subcommittee chairman, and it limited the chairmanship to five consecutive years.

The Facilities, Policy and Personnel Committee recommended eliminating the policy.

“Basically what this does is that it allows you to decide among yourselves who you think the best board chair would be without having any particular experiences that the policy would require them to have,” Superintendent Dave Murphy said.

Director Amy Forbes DeVivo of Bethel said she’d be OK with eliminating term limits, but mentioned that people should have some experience on the board before running for chairman.

“I like that we have term limits because it gives other people the opportunity to be chairman,” Bethel Director Sarah DeCato said. “I also like the idea that in order to be chair you have to have a little experience.”

Marcel Polak of Woodstock disagreed.

“I think that the board has enough wisdom to decide who has the experience, who has the temperament to be the chair,” he said, adding he favored eliminating the policy.

DeCato cast the dissenting vote.

“There are now no prerequisites in terms of prior service in order for someone to be considered for chair,” Murphy said.

In other business, Charlie Raymond, on behalf of Project Opportunity, presented the district with a check for $6,000 for student trip to China. The organization agreed to fund the travel costs.

“Project Opportunity has stepped up repeatedly to support us,” Murphy said.

Project Opportunity has also helped the Telstar Freshman Academy and the Exchange Program Telstar has with Central Maine Community College in Auburn.

Murphy said that the four students on the trip, senior Ainsley Brown, sophomores Molly Pereira, Addie Charette and Andrew Leighton, and chaperones John Eliot and Lindsey Luetje, deans of the high school and middle school respectively, arrived in Beijing on Nov. 4. They group will return Saturday.

Activities will include visiting the Great Wall, touring Beijing, and visiting schools, one of which is interested in possibly sending students to Telstar High School.

Murphy said he hopes the students can attend December’s school board meeting to give a presentation.