Fayetteville calls off plan to move assistant principals

FAYETTEVILLE — Elementary and middle school assistant principals will remain with their same campuses, school district spokesman Alan Wilbourn confirmed.

"After reviewing our district policies regarding personnel transfers, I have decided to withdraw the proposed assistant principal transfers from the May 26 school board meeting agenda,” says a statement from Fayetteville School District Superintendent Paul Hewitt posted on Facebook on Monday night. "Our administrative team will continue to recruit, develop, and retain the very best administrators for our schools.”

Elementary and middle school principals and assistant principals were told in April about the district’s plans to move most of the assistant principals from those campuses to different schools as a way to train and prepare assistant principals to become principals.

But a group of “concerned parents” last week started a petition to ask the school district administration to delay the assistant principal transfers. The petition on change.org had 530 “supporters" as of Tuesday morning. The group had asked supporters to attend Thursday night’s School Board meeting.

Hewitt sent emails to the staff explaining the reversal. A School Board policy outlines certain steps, including meetings and notifications, that must be followed when transfers are involuntary. The superintendent’s job is to implement School Board policies, and Hewitt said he had no choice but to cancel the transfers.

Hewitt said in his email to staff he still believes the transfers to develop future school leaders were best for the district and students, but the way the district develops its leadership will be passed on to the new superintendent, Matthew Wendt, who starts July 1. Hewitt is retiring.

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