LYNN – It was a year that began with a retiring principal and ended with a new superintendent, and the change was abundant in between for the Lynn Public Schools in 2008.Sisson Elementary School Principal John Morris kicked off the 2008 retirement party when he said goodbye to his students in January, and four of his colleagues followed as James Cole of Drewicz Elementary School, S. Lenny Serwacki of Fallon Elementary School, Linda Lord of the Cobbet Elementary School and Paula Akiba – the city’s first black principal – of the Hood Elementary School all retired in 2008.While those retirements left voids at their respective schools, no retirement news was larger than that of Superintendent Nicholas Kostan, who announced in September that the end of 2008 would also be the end of his 39-year career.A statewide search turned up nine candidates for the job, a number that was shaved to six before interviews even began. By the time the face-to-face meetings with the School Committee were over, the list was narrowed to four, with Deputy Superintendent Catherine Latham winning the job over Ford Principal Claire Crane, fellow Deputy Jaye Warry and Classical Principal Warren White.Latham will have a relatively fresh administrative staff to work with when she takes over, once again the result of several retirements over the last year. From the administrative team, the department lost Joanne Roy, Richard McGuinness, David Linehan, Janice Koskey, Steve Upton and Sharon Tucker – all key members of the administrative and curriculum staff.Before Kostan could retire he was forced to make some tough budget decisions, as the fiscal year 2009 spending plan left a big gap between spending and revenue.As a result, Kostan reluctantly laid off 90 licensed teachers and shut the doors of the Fallon and Washington elementary schools, forcing the restructure of the city’s elementary schools and special education programs.The winds of change blew again for the district in February when, as a result of a poor review in a state audit, Kostan replaced Lynn Vocational and Technical Institute’s Brian Coughlin with Breed Middle School Principal James Ridley. As a result, Ridley was replaced at Breed by longtime assistant Fred Dupuis, who was one of four first-time principals to take over this year.The retirements of elementary school principals opened the door for Bernadette Stamm to take over as principal at Drewicz, Brian Fay to take the job at Cobbet and Michael Molnar to lead the Harrington Elementary, after Jane Franklin was transferred to Sisson to take over for Morris.Ridley’s short time at Tech has been successful, but he was forced to deal with tragedy in June when 16-year-old student Shanequa McKennzie drowned at Breakheart Reservation in Saugus.Aside from the closing schools, more controversy struck in April and May when Brickett Elementary School student Matthew Mumbauer was allegedly pushed down the stairs and partially paralyzed as a result of bullying. While Mumbauer’s story touched many and inspired donations to the family, police and school investigations turned up no evidence of any incident taking place at the school and raised more questions as to what actually happened to the student.While Mumbauer slowly recovered from his injuries, the family refused to let police talk to the student, effectively leaving the investigation at an impasse.Several Lynn schools won awards over the past year, including both English and Classical high schools who were once again named to U.S. News and World Report’s list of the nation’s top high schools. The Sewell-Anderson Elementary School also accepted a prestigious award, winning an Outstanding Title 1 award, and representing the state at a national convention in Nashville.Controversial construction at Classical High School continued to move along on schedule, while White praised the progress and success of the Classical Freshman Academy in the Fecteau-Leary building. What started as a makeshift program for f