BRISTOL — The Mount Abraham Unified School District Board and Superintendent Patrick Reen are working on a new deal that will keep Reen on the job for another three years.
Reen first came aboard in July 2016, when area schools were still under the umbrella of the Addison Northeast Supervisory Union, before the district consolidated under the one-board governance of MAUSD. He had been working as the Middlebury Union Middle School principal when chosen to lead Bristol-area schools.
MAUSD Board Chairwoman Dawn Griswold said contract details have yet to be finalized; Reen’s salary for this school year is $141,538.48.
She noted Reen and the board have been focusing on preparing a district-wide budget to fund Mount Abraham Union High and Middle School and its five elementary schools — in Bristol, Monkton, New Haven, Starksboro and Lincoln. That task must be complete by later this month, and a public forum is scheduled for Mount Abe at 6 p.m. on Jan. 22. The budget will probably be made final on Jan. 28.
Griswold said the board will be happy to keep collaborating with Reen.
“We are pleased with the work Patrick is leading in our schools and continue to support him as our leader,” she said.
According to Dec. 18 MAUSD board minutes, after an executive session board members concluded they were “in agreement that Superintendent Reen is making reasonable progress towards the Boards ENDS and improved student outcomes … Superintendent Reen’s motivation remains focused on the students of MAUSD and their continued improvement.”
ENDS refers to the board’s formal evaluation process for how well Reen meets the board’s stated goals and policies  and includes “systematic and rigorous monitoring of Superintendent’s job performance” against specific benchmarks.
Reen, a Morrisville native, first came to Bristol in 2002 as a sixth-grade teacher at Bristol Elementary School. He taught at BES for six years until 2008, where he became assistant principal at MUMS before taking over as principal in March 2012.  
Reen earned his undergraduate degree in Elementary and Special Education from Castleton State College in 2001 and his master’s in Educational Leadership from the University of Vermont in 2008.