Melissa Earls has submitted her resignation from
Southbridge Middle/High School effective June 30th, according to The
Worcester Telegram.
Mrs. Earls said she has been hired as head of
schools for Academy Hill School in Springfield, a pre-kindergarten to Grade 8
independent school for gifted and talented students. Its enrollment is
approximately 107 students. Mrs. Earls said the head of schools there is
leaving for a post at a similar but larger school in Virginia. "This place
came after me. I didn’t send an application out," said Mrs. Earls, whose
daughter, Emma, will graduate from Academy Hill School this year.
Asked whether the possibility of a state takeover of Southbridge schools made the decision easier, Mrs. Earls said, "I'm not naïve to what’s happening here. I believe there is a likelihood they could [place Southbridge as Level 5], which means they could remove me. It’s within the realm of what they’ve done during takeovers, is remove administration. The uncertainty, there’s a factor there."
Interim Superintendent Timothy P. Connors said he
would start trying to find a replacement now. He said: "I think that we need to get out
there as soon as we can. The receivership hasn’t happened yet. We certainly
know that it’s something that the commissioner could decide to do, and if he
did, we would work with him. But in the meantime, I’m going to work with the
School Committee to see what we might do. We certainly won’t do anything before
February, so that gives us time to see what the commissioner is doing. But I
think that myself and the School Committee would like to move forward so we
have somebody in place by July 1
I don't blame her at all....with the state looking to take over Southbridge, I would of done the same thing. I love this community, and I love the kids, but you first have to take care of yourself before anything else. I want to wish Señora Earls some good luck on her new endeavors. I'm sure she didn't want to leave, and it will be a real lost to the district.
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