Principal search is on; Lynn School Dept. hopes to have replacement fast

LYNN – The school department has launched a search to replace English High Principal Andrew Fila, who announced last week he is retiring after a 45-year career as a teacher and administrator in Lynn Schools.”The post for the job has gone out, and it will be a short turnaround,” said Superintendent Catherine Latham, who expects to make a decision in two weeks.Vice Principal Thomas Strangie will serve as acting principal, as he has in the past when Fila has been out.In some cases, acting school administrators are ineligible to apply for the positions they are filling on a temporary basis. However, Latham said that is not the case for this position.Latham announced Fila’s retirement at last week’s School Committee meeting and repeated what many have said since the news of Fila’s retirement became official.”He’ll be missed,” said Latham.The superintendent was a freshman at English when Fila, who graduated in 1959, was a senior and a hockey star for the Bulldogs.Fila began teaching in Lynn in 1965 as a substitute. In 1972, he became the vice principal at Eastern Junior High School, which has since become Marshall Middle School. Fila took over as principal before he succeeded the late Thomas Connelly as English’s principal in February 2000.Like others, Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy, who is chairwoman of school committee, was saddened to hear of Fila’s decision to retire.”I just hope my son, who was an incoming freshman this year, had nothing to do with it,” she said with a laugh.