Movement of school leaders is a spring ritual for most large school districts, but a change in principals planned for Foss High School is already causing a backlash.
Tacoma Superintendent Art Jarvis announced Thursday that Thu Ament, a Foss alumnus in his fourth year as principal of the school, will be reassigned next fall as principal of Oakland, one of the district’s alternative high schools.
Bonnie McGuire, the current principal at Oakland, will move to Foss as its principal.
Some Foss High School supporters say they believe their school is being punished for their vocal opposition earlier this year to save Foss from closure.
“I would suggest that this move is retaliatory for the push-back that Dr. Jarvis and (central administrative) staff received from Foss staff, students and PTSA,” said Michelle Bullinger, secretary of the Foss Parent Teacher Student Association.
District officials say the transfer of Ament and two assistant principals from Foss is not related to that controversy.
“It clearly has absolutely nothing to do with school closure issues,” said district spokesman Dan Voelpel. “The changes are based on the best match between each principal’s strengths and assessment of each school’s needs.”
In January, Jarvis proposed closing the smallest of the city’s five comprehensive high schools to save money. The School District needs to cut about $23 million from its 2011-12 budget.
The School Board backed away from closing Foss in the face of public protests. On Thursday, it approved plans to close two elementary schools, McKinley and Wainwright.
Jarvis said in a news release announcing school administrator changes that “with a district our size, we have many more opportunities and options to make beneficial match-ups that will lead to innovative changes.”
The district hopes to launch an evening program at Foss that would allow students to earn credits outside the traditional school day. It also plans to use Foss as the site of the district’s online program, which opened this year.
In other changes at Foss, current assistant principal Bryon Bahr will trade places with Wilson High School assistant principal Christine Brandt. Foss’ other assistant principal, Norma Barrineau, will also have a new assignment, which has not yet been announced.
Linda Braddy moves from Oakland to become assistant principal at Foss.
Ament said Friday that he had no comment on the moves.
But Foss parents had plenty to say. And Wilson students staged a walkout Friday over the transfer of Brandt from their school to Foss.
Dave Medina, parent of a Foss junior, said a total makeover of Foss’ administration is a bad idea. He called the transfer of Ament one in a continuing series of leadership changes that has hurt the South Tyler Street campus.
“We will have had each one of our four children graduate from Foss with a different principal,” he said. “What’s the reasoning behind it? What do we stand to gain from continually mixing things up?”
Medina said that many in the Foss community still have “a bad taste in their mouth from the way the whole Foss closure thing went down.”
He urged Foss supporters to contact Jarvis about their feelings.
“Everyone should be calling his office, giving him their thoughts and demanding that he answer to us,” Medina said.
Bullinger said she and other families in her neighborhood were affected by Hunt Middle School’s closure last year, then the near-closure of Foss this year.
“It’s too much for me as a parent,” she said.
Debbie Cafazzo: 253-597-8635 debbie.cafazzo@thenewstribune.com
Steilacoom principal appointee withdraws
Bill Fritz, superintendent of the Steilacoom Historical School District, will reopen the hiring process for its high school principal after his pick withdrew her name from consideration.
Fritz said Monica Sweet, principal at Aspire Middle School in Lacey, notified him of her decision Thursday.
It came the day after the town’s School Board voted to postpone approval of Sweet’s appointment after nearly two hours of emotional public testimony that the hiring process was flawed and the other finalist, assistant principal Darrin Lowry, deserved the job.
Fritz declined to provide the reason for Sweet’s withdrawal but acknowledged it was related to the public meeting. He said he was disappointed because he thought the district had found “the person that could lead the high school to the next level.”
Lowry will have to reapply for the principal job if he’s still interested. Fritz said he decided to reopen the process rather than appoint Lowry, the other finalist in the last search. Fritz said the process must be remedied so “it’s more compatible with the needs of the community” and vowed that it would contain a “much greater degree” of openness and transparency.
Christian Hill, staff writer More Tacoma school changes
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