Raleigh high school will be looking for its sixth principal in eight years
A Raleigh high school is looking for its sixth principal in eight years, and two Raleigh elementary schools are getting new principals in the middle of the school year.
The Wake County school system announced Tuesday that Southeast Raleigh High School principal Stephanie Smith will become senior administrator in the Office of Professional Learning on Jan. 2. Luther Thomas will serve as interim principal through March 31.
Smith joined Southeast Raleigh in 2017, becoming at the time the school’s fifth principal in six years. The constant leadership turnover at the school caused parents and students to show up at a 2017 school board meeting to urge that they get stability at Southeast Raleigh.
Dawn Blagrove, one of the Southeast Raleigh parents who spoke out in 2017, said Thursday that losing Smith is a tremendous loss to the school. Blagrove said she and her daughter, a junior at the school, cried when they heard that Smith was leaving.
“One need look no further than the growth the school has made under her leadership to see that our children suffer because she will no longer be their principal,” Blagrove said in an email Thursday. “One need do no more than watch her interact with the students, calling them by name and holding them accountable to their best selves as though she gave birth to them to see she is the right person for our school.”
Blagrove complained that Smith’s departure will again leave Southeast Raleigh students needing to find a new leader. She said families will be closely watching the selection process for the new principal.
“Wake County School Board members have a duty to find the RIGHT PERSON for our school,” Blagrove said. “That does not mean the best of a candidate pool or the only person who begrudgingly takes the position. That means doing a statewide or even nationwide search to find THE RIGHT PERSON for the job.”
Also announced on Tuesday:
▪ Sherri Miller will start as principal of Lacy Elementary School in Raleigh on Jan. 6. Her salary will be $117,699.
Miller has been the school district’s director of K-12 literacy since 2012. She replaces Candace Watson.
▪ Amy Light will start as principal of North Forest Pines Elementary School on Feb. 3. Her salary will be $93,794.
Light has been an assistant principal at Heritage Middle School in Wake Forest since 2016. She replaces Michelle Bell, who left to become principal of Forest Pines Elementary.
This story was originally published December 19, 2019 at 6:25 AM with the headline "Raleigh high school will be looking for its sixth principal in eight years."
