RUMFORD – After six hours of interviews and three hours of discussion Friday afternoon, the SAD 43 board may have found a new superintendent.

Board Chairman Arthur Boivin said virtually the entire school board interviewed three finalists Friday afternoon. Only Roxbury representative Mark Touchette and Mexico board member Peter Zanoni were absent. By the time they finished the follow-up discussion at 9 p.m., a “good consensus” of board members agreed to recommend a candidate to be voted upon at next Monday’s regular board meeting.

“It’s been a very difficult decision. We had three excellent candidates,” Boivin said.

Of the three finalists, one man is from Maine and the other two from out-of-state. The three were gleaned from 11 qualified applicants. This was the second round of semifinalists since the search began in March.

Boivin said he believes the finalist will accept the position if offered by the board on Monday. He said the man may attend Monday’s meeting and start work on Aug. 1.

“Right now, it looks very promising,” Boivin said.

Superintendent Danny Michaud’s last day on the job was June 30. He is leaving after eight years as superintendent and one year as Mountain Valley High School principal. Michaud has served the longest of any superintendent since the merger of the Rumford School Department and the Mexico-based SAD 43 in 1989.

In the interim, retired Superintendent Graham Nye will work on a per diem basis. He is expected to be in the office on Tuesday.

Boivin was particularly grateful to the Superintendent Search Committee, which had put in many hours over the past few months.

“They did the research and made our job a lot easier. They worked very hard and brought us some good people,” he said.

eadams@sunjournal.com