SCARBOROUGH – The principal of Scarborough High School stepped down Friday and will be replaced by an interim “school leadership team.”

According to an press release issued Friday afternoon by Superintendent George Entwistle, Dean Auriemma “has recognized that the demands of the job of high school principal are not compatible with meeting the needs of his family.”

“Mr. Auriemma and I have agreed that it is in the best interest of the school for him to step-down immediately from his position,” wrote Entwistle, adding that Auriemma will remain in the district through the end of the school year in an unspecified role “performing work that will contribute to important, district-wide, quality improvement initiatives.”

A search already is under way for a replacement, with the goal of having a new principal at the helm by July 1. Entwistle has assigned “primary responsibility” for the search to Pleasant Hill Primary School principal Kelly Mullen-Martin and Scarborough Middle School Principal Barbara Hathorn.

In the meantime, Scarborough High School will be run by a four-person committee led by the school district’s director of curriculum and instruction, Monique Culbertson. Joining Culbertson in administering the school will be assistant principals Ray Dunn and Susan Ketch, along with Athletics Director Mike LeGage.

“While my expectation is that this team will employ a shared leadership model of operating, I am designating Ms. Culbertson as the team leader,” wrote Entwistle. “Other current district personnel will be engaged in covering Ms. Culbertson’s most critical job responsibilities related to curriculum and instruction during this time.”

Auriemma, 45, was hired to lead Scarborough High School starting July 1, 2010. His resume at the time included 14 years as an art teacher, followed by stints as principal of the grades 9 and 10 at Minooka Community High School in suburban Chicago and principal of Thornton Fractional South High School, just south of Chicago.

This story will be updated online as more information becomes available, and in this week’s print edition of The Current.

Principal Dean Auriemma speaks at Scarborough High School’s 2012 graduation.
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