WINSLOW — The principal at Winslow High School announced his resignation last week, effective June 30.

Doug Carville, 56, has been principal for nearly a decade during a career in education that spans 32 years. The next step is uncertain, he said. 

Additional Photos

Winslow High School Principal Doug Carville in his office on Monday. Carville will leave his position at the end of the school year to pursue other employment. Staff photo by David Leaming

“I’m going to pursue other opportunities, but I’m not sure what they are yet,” Carville said Monday during a telephone interview. “I wouldn’t rule out another principalship, but I don’t know.”

Carville said there was no strife or animosity behind his upcoming departure, which coincides with the end of the fiscal year.

“It just became time to look at other opportunities,” he said. “I think change can be healthy.”

The school superintendent, Eric Haley, said it was Carville’s decision to resign.

“This is Doug’s choosing. He wants to pursue other opportunities. I take that at face value,” Haley said. “Doug has been a good administrator, loyal to the system, sincere, very well read on educational literature and a good resource for that kind of information.”

With Carville’s Jan. 16 announcement, the school board will have more than five months to find a successor. Haley is confident that the position will attract suitable candidates.

“I think Winslow carries a pretty good reputation and I think it’s a place where people would aspire to go, whether it’s for a first principalship or a veteran who’s looking for a different challenge.”

The challenges include implementing state-mandated changes to the school’s teacher evaluation system, which Haley anticipates will take the new principal two years. There’s also a slim possibility that a new wing will be added to the school, to house the town’s seventh- and eighth-graders, Haley said.

Carville, an Augusta resident, took over for Brett Moores, who resigned in March 2004.

When Carville arrived, the school was in a rough patch, according to reports. During the year when Moores resigned, the school had expelled seven students, police brought in a drug dog to search for illegal substances, and assistant principal Mike Haley left to take a similar position at another high school. On some days the detention list at Winslow High School ran two columns long, with up to 60 students running afoul of school rules.

Within a year, many people credited Carville with having a calming influence on the school, which now has about 480 students. 

Carville said he’s proud to have overseen a $9 million construction project at the school, to have initiated a program that helps incoming freshmen transition to the school, and more.

Carville said he hasn’t identified his next challenge.

“I’m not sure what it’s going to be (and) I’m not sure what it’s going to look like, but I’m confident that there’s something else out there that’s going to fit my needs,” he said.

At the same time, he acknowledged that his resignation might spur rumors.

“Unfortunately, I can’t control that,” he said. “I just think it’s time to explore other opportunities, and this makes that happen.”

Ben McCanna — 861-9239
bmccanna@centralmaine.com