WESTMINSTER — And then there were none.
Kelly O’Ryan has withdrawn her candidacy for the Bellows Falls Union High School principal’s job. O’Ryan was the lone surviving candidate after a months-long search process.
O’Ryan, 43, the school’s diversity and Title IX coordinator, opted not to go forward despite a vote of confidence from the search committee, according School Director Priscilla Lambert of Rockingham, who was one of three BFUHS board members on the committee.
Lambert said Superintendent of Schools Andrew Haas notified board members Tuesday morning that O’Ryan had withdrawn her candidacy for the full-time job.
“I am concerned, we need leadership for our school,” said Lambert, who is also chairwoman of the Rockingham School Board. She said she was surprised at O’Ryan’s decision to withdraw.
The school will be without a principal on July 1.
O’Ryan, who lives in Putney with her family, went through two public interview sessions last Wednesday — first with the community and then with the BFUHS board. Just before the community interview, the search committee withdrew its invitation to the other finalist, Mark Fiorentino, whose problematic history in Littleton, N.H., as the former principal at Littleton High School, was not known to the committee earlier.
O’Ryan did not return a message Tuesday seeking comment.
O’Ryan, who has worked at BFUHS for the past year, has 10 years of experience as dean of students at two Putney private schools — first at Greenwood School and then with Landmark College. Both schools serve students with learning disabilities.
Haas, in a phone call Tuesday afternoon, said he was on his way to the high school to meet with the school’s coordinators, or department heads, to discuss the next step forward.
Haas said the school district would immediately begin advertising for an interim, one-year position.
“The high school needs a leader,” said Haas, who said he would be looking at “all the options” for a new principal, including working with a hiring consultant or head hunter.
Haas said he had met privately with O’Ryan and she told him that it was best for her to withdraw her candidacy.
He said he expects her to stay as the school’s diversity coordinator since she had asked if applying for the principal’s job would jeopardize her current position.
O’Ryan herself during the public “meet and greet” community interview last Wednesday said she almost decided to withdraw the day before, but then decided to go forward.
The search committee, which was put together by Haas, included members of the BFUHS staff, parents and BFUHS directors, and had recommended O’Ryan at its private meeting Friday, Haas said.
O’Ryan would have had to apply for a provisional principal’s certification since she currently does not hold the state certification. She is completing her doctorate in educational leadership at New England College.
Haas noted that people who attended the community session had urged the BFUHS board to reopen the search process.
Haas said provisional licenses are not unusual, particularly since COVID-19 hit. Jennifer MacKay, the current assistant principal, also had a provisional license this year because she hadn’t completed her master’s degree, which she now has and allows her to apply for her certification.
Other members of the school board, including the chairwoman, Molly Banik, did not return messages seeking comment, and other directors also declined to comment.
“After hearing her presentation last Wednesday night, and later listening as she was interviewed by the high school board, I concluded that she was the right individual at the right time to move Bellows Falls Union High School forward,” BFUHS Director David Clark of Westminster said.
“It was abundantly clear that Kelly had a firm grasp of the strengths and weaknesses of school climate within the building, both students and staff, and being able to pro-actively apply this knowledge is the first step within any institution that wishes to seriously embrace change. Last week I communicated my strong support for her hire to the leadership including board chair Molly Banik and Superintendent Haas, as well as to Ms. O’Ryan. It is extremely disappointing to hear that she no longer wants the post,” he said.
The current principal, John Broadley, decided not to seek reappointment to the job after a two-year period. His decision came after several meetings in which the BFUHS board was critical of his leadership and handling of several key issues.
Many members of the community, including staff at the school, protested Broadley’s departure and urged that he be offered a new contract, but the board and Haas took no action on their demands.
Broadley has since been hired as the new principal at Green Mountain Union High School in Chester.