Principal Of Brookline School Takes Sudden Leave Of Absence

BROOKLINE, MA — The principal of the Runkle School has taken a sudden leave of absence and the district will be looking for an "experienced leader" to add to the team in her absence, the district announced Wednesday.

"At this time our primary focus is to take appropriate and immediate steps to put a highly qualified team of school leaders in place and ensure that we provide the best possible support and leadership for Runkle’s students, staff, and families," said Interim Superintendent Ben Lummis in a note home to families.

He did not elaborate on what prompted the leave, or for how long the district expects Principal Genteen Jean-Michel to be gone.

Starting Thursday, Runkle’s Vice Principal Donna Finnegan will be acting principal with support from Senior Director of Teaching & Learning Dr. Mary Brown, Special Education Director Nadene Moll and Director of Autism and Inclusion Programming Melissa Devine, according to Lummis.

"They will be on site on a rotating schedule to support the school community while we identify an experienced leader to serve as acting vice principal," he said.

Jean-Michel took over as principal of the Runkle School off of Dean Road at the end of the 2017 school year. She replaced interim principal Jim Stoddard who took over when Vanessa Beauchaine left in 2015.

She had a decade of experience in the Boston public school system as a teacher and another decade under her belt as a principal there. She and her husband and 12-year-old daughter live in Mattapan close to where she grew up.

"I want to assure you that the students, staff and families have been and will remain our first priority during this period of transition," said Lummis.

According to a school survey the school year 2016-17 some 73 percent of staff indicated they viewed the school as having a positive school climate, up 3 percent from the year before. The following school year 2017-18 that sentiment went down to 58 percent and went down to 45 percent in the 2018-19 school year.

Meanwhile, some 66 percent of Runkle families who took the survey indicated that they felt the school climate was positive last school year up one percent from the 2017-18 school year, which was down 7 percent from the year before.

Positive sentiment toward school leadership went from 62 percent in 2016-17 school year to 22 percent in the 2018-19 school year. And positive sentiment regarding staff-leadership relations went from 71 percent to 36 percent during that same time.

Patch reporter Jenna Fisher can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna).