Dozens Call For Reinstatement of Barnstable High School Principal

BARNSTABLE, MA — Dozens of residents called for the reinstatement of Barnstable High School Principal Patrick Clark and demanded reasons for why he was suspended.

On Sept. 25, Clark was placed on paid administrative leave. Parents were not notified of the suspension until Sept. 28 in an email sent out by Superintendent Meg Mayo-Brown.

Mayo-Brown never gave a reason for the suspension, and at Wednesday's school committee meeting, she said she legally cannot say without Clark's permission.

"Transparency and input have guided our work in bringing children back to school this fall," Mayo-Brown said. "I understand and respect the strong sense of loyalty the community feels for Principal Clark. I would prefer to be transparent but can only do so if Mr. Clark signs a public release."

But Mayo-Brown's reasoning didn't stop dozens of residents, including students, from showing their support for Clark. Clark did not immediately respond to Patch's request for comment. We will update if we here back.

Their comments almost weren't allowed to be heard when school committee members questioned whether public comments had to stick to agenda items. But after some discussion, the committee voted 4-1 to suspend its policy that limited public comments to agenda items so residents could speak on the controversial topic.

Parents and recent graduates said Clark always greeted students by name in the morning, cheered them on for their accomplishments and also spent weekends touching up landscaping on school grounds.

"Principal Clark is the heart and soul of our school," Barnstable High School junior Paul Sullivan said in an email that was read during public comment. "Our school is not the same without his energy. I really want him to return soon."

"Patrick Clark has been an extraordinary leader of the school," resident Susan Shandly added. "All involved need to set a good example for their students by putting their differences aside to compromise."

Several people accused Mayo-Brown of scapegoating Clark following a chaotic reopening of Barnstable High School amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Barnstable High School suffered some significant bumps before it could open school. Organizational issues left the remote learning schedule in disarray. While other schools in the district were able to start on Sept. 16, the high school wasn't able to open until a week later. The district is scrambling to hire teachers to fill holes in the schedule.

"This looks like amateur hour from an organizational standpoint," Bob Martin said.

Laurie Crawley argued the timing of placing Clark on leave was "unacceptable." She said Clark calmed people's nerves before school started, and "Barnstable high students look for him to be there."

"If anyone thought this would be an easy process with no mishaps, they would be wrong," Crawley said.

But not all residents who spoke were critical of Mayo-Brown. Rose O’Donnell said called Clark a "wonderful" principal but is withholding judgement until the facts about the suspension come out.

"Whatever is going on with the issue with Principal Clark, we hope it gets taken care of in a timely manner," O'Donnell said. "We don’t know what is happening, we don’t know all the details, but we think he's wonderful."