Bangor School Department Superintendent James Tager will retire in June after 42 years working in education, the last three of which he spent in Bangor.
In an announcement sent to families on Friday, Tager thanked the community, including faculty and staff, families and school committee members, for their common dedication to provide the best education for Bangor students.
“It has truly been a pleasure and an honor to be a part of the Bangor School Department family, and I will especially cherish the memories of the children who shared their stories of what they were learning today, but also what they saw in their futures,” Tager wrote. “I came here for the right reasons, and I think I’m leaving for the right reasons, but in between has been really good. I will always be grateful for the Bangor community.”
Tager, whose last day will be June 30, took over the superintendent position in 2021 following the departure of longtime Bangor Superintendent Betsy Webb in 2020.
Tager came to Maine after serving as superintendent of the Franklin West Supervisory Union — about a half-hour north of Burlington — in 2020. Before that, Tager was superintendent of Flagler Schools in Florida from 2017 to 2020.
Tager joined the department at a time when Bangor schools came under fire after students reported experiencing racism at the predominantly white high school. The racism included white students calling them the N-word and defending slavery and white supremacy in class discussions, which were later confirmed by an independent investigation.
The revelation led to the creation of a 40-person diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging committee, which evaluates ways the department can ensure all students and staff feel respected and valued.
“Since the first day on the job as your superintendent, I embraced the challenges, history, and tradition that make up our district,” Tager wrote. “There has been potential fulfilled and still yet potential to be realized.”
During his three-year tenure, Bangor High School graduation rate climbed from 82.4 percent to 89.9 percent in 2022 — the highest graduation rate in the department’s history. The achievement met the 90 percent four-year graduation rate goal the department set for itself in its 10-year strategic plan published in 2020.
In his three years as superintendent, 40 percent of Bangor students accessed accelerated programming, and students earned the Seal of Biliteracy in Chinese, French, Spanish and American Sign Language, according to Tager.
Tager also oversaw the adoption of a new emergency alert system in 2023 that allows school staff to call for first responders and police instantly by pushing a button on a wearable badge. The system is designed to create faster response times from first responders in the case of a school shooting or lower-level problem.
Bangor High School, in partnership with Penobscot Community Health Care, also opened a new in-school health clinic in 2022, which offers students mental and physical health care, during Tager’s time in the department.
The city gave the department $500,000 in pandemic relief funding in 2023 to open health clinics in two Bangor middle schools.
