UPDATE: I asked APS for comment and this is what the district said:
Over the last couple of years, an Atlanta Public Schools’ associate superintendent has been very involved with Mary Lin Elementary School. This fall, the APS Superintendent instructed the district ombudsman to join the associate superintendent to engage with the community to listen to their concerns. At this juncture, the district is moving forward to ensure that the focus remains on our students and that they complete a successful school year.
APS has accepted Principal Brian Mitchell’s resignation and appreciates his commitment to continue in his role through the end of the school year. We will begin a search for a new principal for Mary Lin early next year.
Back to original post:
Readers tipped me off the principal of Mary Lin Elementary School had resigned, upsetting the teachers who rallied to his defense.
A reader provided a copy of the email principal Brian Mitchell sent to the school community this week in which he announced, “My specialty is recruiting and retaining excellent teachers. I will be taking my talents elsewhere for the 2015-2016 school year.”
Credit: Maureen Downey
Credit: Maureen Downey
Mitchell will leave the intown APS elementary school in June.
In an email dated Nov. 21, Mary Lin teachers told APS Superintendent Meria Carstarphen and Regional K-12 Executive Director of Schools David White they supported Mitchell, and that the views of critics should not be heeded. They praised his leadership and said Mitchell had raised teacher morale.
According to one member of the Mary Lin community: “There is a division of parent support at Mary Lin and the ‘anti-Dr. Mitchell’ group has been extremely vocal and has had the ears of Carstarphen and White since the beginning of the school year.”
Here is the AJC news brief from reporter Molly Bloom:
In the letter, Mitchell did not explain the reasons for his resignation. He did not return a call or email from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Friday.
Mitchell has worked for the Atlanta Public Schools since 1995.
Mary Lin received a score of 86.4 under the state's school rating system, the College and Career Ready Performance Index. That's higher than all but about 10 Atlanta elementary schools and significantly higher than the district's average score of 67.1 for elementary schools.
It is always difficult to report on a personnel decision because it occurs behind closed doors and neither side tends to speak on the record. Anyone fill in the missing pieces here?
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