LYNN — Lynn English High School Principal Thomas Strangie will not return to his current position next school year.
Superintendent Dr. Patrick Tutwiler said there will be a change in leadership at Lynn English, the district’s largest school.
All principal contracts for the Lynn Public School expire at the end of the month.
Tutwiler has appointed an acting principal, Tessie Mower, who currently serves as vice principal at Lynn Classical, for the 2020-21 school year and the search for a permanent principal will begin in the spring of 2021.
Mower’s appointment is effective July 1.
“English High is the largest school in the Lynn Public Schools and it is a school that in recent weeks has indicated a need for change and the change in leadership is responsive to that need,” said Tutwiler. “I think that Tessie, while being appointed in an acting capacity, is precisely the right person to step in and begin to lead that change.”
Strangie did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
His departure comes after recent social media posts from community members, including current and former students, that involved criticism of staff members at district schools, particularly Lynn English and Lynn Classical high schools.
In response to that social media activity, Tutwiler released a video that was posted on his YouTube channel and shared on the school district’s Facebook page two weeks ago.
In the video, Tutwiler said that while it was a good thing that people’s voices have been elevated as a result of the world’s attention to race and inequity, he discouraged students from using their voice to “publicly condemn individuals.
“I empathize with the desire to speak your truth,” Tutwiler said in the video. “If it’s change or improvement that you seek, there’s a constructive outcome-oriented means to do so. I will never silence you. Your voice is precious.”
To that end, Tutwiler said district administration opted to solicit input from current and former students about their experiences in the Lynn Public Schools through a specific email address.
“That was a sincere extension of my willingness to listen and people took me up on it,” said Tutwiler. “The district is imperfect and we have a lot of work to do and that was further affirmed through the experiences that individuals shared through that mechanism. Some people also just wrote to me directly and said this has been my experience.”
Tutwiler shared the news of Strangie’s departure with the Lynn English community through a district memo that was sent on Tuesday.
“Last week, Mr. Strangie shared that he will be moving on from the role of principal,” Tutwiler wrote in the memo. “He is owed a great debt of gratitude for his decades of service directly to scores of students and to the school as a whole.
“It is now time to turn the page in the English High School narrative — to move forward. English High School is in need of leadership that can help it heal, first and foremost, and evolve.”
Tutwiler said he sees Mower’s appointment as the first of many important steps toward moving Lynn English forward in new and innovative, but collaboratively explored ways.
Mower is “deeply familiar” with Lynn English, Tutwiler said, noting her time working as an English Department head at the school. She’s also an alumna of Lynn English, he said.
“Not only is Mrs. Mower deeply familiar with English High, she is an exceptional instructional leader and notably practiced collaborator,” Tutwiler wrote. “She is a proven leader whose values, vision and disposition would be fitting and impactful in any school community, but particularly at English High School.”
Mower started her teaching career in the Lynn Public Schools in 1994, as a teacher at Thurgood Marshall Middle School.
