BRISTOL — The Newfound Regional School District is beginning the search for an interim superintendent to fill in for Dr. Marie Ross, whose is still recovering from a brain hemorrhage.

Ross, who suffered the illness on Sept. 29, is making good progress and has returned to New Hampshire, according to her family.

But school officials aren’t sure how long her rehabilitation will take, so an interim superintendent will be hired with the aid of state education officials, said Vincent Paul Migliore of Bridgewater, the school board’s chairman.

“We are hoping (Ross) will return soon, but it’s taking a little longer than we expected,” Migliore said.

Meanwhile, the superintendent’s family has set up fundraising web pages on youcaring.com to help pay her hospital bills, and has raised $1,235 thus far, according to the site. The page is called “We Love Marie Ross.”

On the site, one of her daughters, Erin Watson, said Ross suffered a “brain bleed” while visiting her youngest daughter in Maryland. She was admitted to Johns Hopkins Hospital’s Neurocritical Care Unit and was “closely monitored for additional swelling as a result of a fairly large bleed in her brain,” Watson said.

“She is, of course, in wonderful spirits working hard to recover with a smile,” Watson said. “…All donations will be used for medical bills, rehabilitation costs, travel expenses and anything else Marie may need for a healthy recovery.”

According to Watson, Ross was discharged from the Maryland hospital last week. She had been working on her recovery at the hospital’s Acute Rehabilitation Unit, and will be continuing her recovery at an outpatient rehabilitation facility in New Hampshire.

“We’ve decided to have her finish up her recovery while staying with family to give her time away from her everyday life to focus on getting better,” Watson said. “She will be away just a bit longer.”

dseufert@newstote.com