SALEM — The School Department is advertising for a new principal for Horace Mann Lab School.
Superintendent William Cameron sent a letter home in students' backpacks late last week to notify parents that he is seeking a principal for the K-5 school who "may have a three-year tenure or may serve only one year."
The letter came 10 days after Cameron announced he would not recommend closing Horace Mann School at the end of this school year. Starting in March, Cameron and other school officials had warned parents that closing the school was a possibility if the district faced budget cuts.
In his most recent letter, Cameron said he believes there can be a new principal in place sometime in June to replace Diane O'Donnell, who is set to retire next month.
"I will ask teachers and parents from Horace Mann and other district educators to collaborate in identifying the best candidates for the job," Cameron wrote in the one-page letter to parents and staff that was sent home Thursday afternoon. He said three parents and three Horace Mann teachers will serve on the screening committee.
Cameron also echoed a warning, however, that he made previously about tough financial times.
"It's plain that we should not close school buildings we will need in the foreseeable future," Cameron wrote. "But we also should not shy away from making difficult decisions if they're required in a time of scarce financial resources."
Cameron said the schools are developing a five-year strategic plan, which will include consideration of the "grade configuration and resulting academic programming for Salem's schools in the next few years."
Cameron said he has called for a committee to be formed to study of the district's facilities needs and to make a recommendation to the School Committee.
"We now have five K-5 schools, two K-8 schools, a grade 6-8 school, and a grade 9-12 school," Cameron wrote. "There are benefits but also problems with this arrangement. We should determine as a community what arrangement and programming is best for Salem."
Cameron has already hired three new principals for next year at Carlton School, which is K-5, and at Saltonstall and Nathaniel Bowditch schools, which are the district's two K-8 schools.
The tenure of a new Horace Mann principal will depend "on establishing the facilities committee ... the group's starting its work in a timely way, its making specific recommendations to the School Committee, and the Committee's acting on those recommendations," Cameron wrote.
Parent Mark Tuttle, who has two children at Horace Mann, said he was alarmed that the superintendent wrote only about facilities needs.
"There has been no mention of academics or academic achievement in the school closing debate," Tuttle said yesterday. "Some very elementary questions have not been addressed."
Horace Mann is on the Salem State College campus on Loring Avenue. It is one of four "lab" schools for the college, and Salem State owns the building and provides it free to the school district. The college pays for maintenance, repairs and utilities, as well as half the principal's salary.
No one from the college spoke at the public meetings regarding the school's fate, but the college has said it has no alternative plans for the building.
"It's very clear we're not out of the woods — that Horace Mann is still in the target," parent Mark Mazuzan said. "It seems we've been targeted on the basis of real estate, and not a consideration of performance and how well students are doing, the culture of the school, the quality of the teachers, and the neighborhood school."
Raw Video: Hail Storm Batters Oklahoma City
California's Foie Gras Ban About to Begin
6-Year-Old Going to National Spelling Bee
Video Essay: Funky Winkerbean Comic Turns 40
On Thailand Trip, Suu Kyi Visits Migrants
Raw Video: Pink Diamond Auctioned for $17.4M
Hurricane Andrew Remembered, 20 Years Later
Sister Says She Reported Brother in Patz Killing
Patz Suspect's Sister: I Went to Police in 1980s
Diplomatic Expulsions Follow Fresh Syria Report
15 Dead in Northern Italy's 5.8-magnitude Quake
Witness Describes Fla. Face-chewing Attack
Man Falls Off Crane, Dies After Police Standoff
Russia Condemns Ally Syria Over Massacre of 108
Dairy Farm Uses Chiropractor to Help Cows
Unexpected Smog in Pristine National Parks
Air Canada Plane Makes Emergency Landing
New Ticks Spread Across Southeast, Diseases Rise
Bring Your Own Tech Programs Charge Up Students
Service Dogs Help Wash. Soldiers Battling PTSD
