Maria Libby will be taking a six-month sabbatical from her role as Superintendent of the SAD 28 and Five Town CSD school districts in the following year.

SAD 28 includes the Camden-Rockport Elementary School and the Camden-Rockport Middle School; the Five Town CSD includes Camden Hills Regional High School, which is attended by student’s from Camden, Rockport, Lincolnville, Hope and Appleton.

Libby’s proposed sabbatical will run from July 1 to December 31 of 2022. Libby’s proposed sabbatical was unanimously approved by members of the Five Town CSD School Board at a Nov. 3 meeting.

At the meeting Libby said that she planned to work on two books – one about her experience in the education, and the other a children’s book related to education.

Prior to voting on her proposed leave from duties as Superintendent, School Board alternate member Rick Thackeray asked Libby whether Assistant Superintendent Debra McIntyre would be assuming the role of Superintendent in Libby’s absence or if the district would be looking for another individual for the position.

“There are all kinds of different ways that that could happen,” said Libby. “There could be potential internal people who could do it; it could potentially be something that’s advertised for. I have my recommendations for that and that is going to be discussed, it’s not yet for public consumption,” said Libby, adding that the CSD School Board will ultimately decide who will act temporarily as superintendent.

Libby has served as superintendent of the two school districts since 2015; prior to that she served as assistant superintendent as well as principal of the Camden-Rockport Middle School. 

“My major goal is to try and write a book about education, as the professional activity while on sabbatical, that’s the major thing,” she said. “I have some secondary things I’m interested in doing, I have a children’s book idea that has to do with education as well, plus another project with my alma mater [Bowdoin College] that I’ve been collaborating with some other people on, which also has to do with education and teaching in Maine.”

Although members of the board referred generally to Libby’s contract as included in their meeting materials, the contract was not included in the meeting packet distributed to this publication.

“I think [Libby] has been pretty good about taking the reigns during this pandemic and I think that’s a piece of the puzzle, but I see the flipside of that too, that Maria’s been running this train for a year and a half in challenging times and having a mental and professional switch is definitely beneficial,” said board member Deborah Harbaugh.

“Honestly, for me it’s a lot more than the past year and a half. It’s been 24 years that I’ve been in the district and it’s my ninth in the central office. I’ve put in a few extra years of time during that time, and do feel like I could use a reprieve and a break after the time I’ve put in to be able to be my best self for the next chapter of my career here,” said Libby.