Monsignor Kelly Catholic High School Principal Teresa Shaffer has resigned.
Catholic Diocese of Beaumont Bishop David Toups said her resignation — effective Thursday — was for “personal reasons.”
Toups a letter to the community Thursday afternoon expressing appreciation for Shaffer’s tenure and invited the community to pray and wish her well in any future endeavors.
“I am very grateful to the year that Dr. Shaffer was our principal and I wish her the very best as she moves on,” Toups told The Enterprise on Friday. Shaffer could not be reached for comment on Friday.
School officials now plan to start a search for a new principal.
“We will begin work on finding a new principal and those plans will be announced as they solidify,” Toups said in the letter. “Thank you all very much for your continued support of Monsignor Kelly Catholic High School.”
It is unclear who currently is leading the campus. However, Diocese Communications Manager Karen Gilman said the superintendent is working closely with the administration.
“School is going to go on as needed,” Gilman said. “There will be no interruption for the students.”
Gilman said any timeline for hiring a new principal would depend on various factors such as the number of applications received and interviews.
Shaffer was selected to serve as the high school’s principal in March 2020, following the retirement of longtime principal Roger Bemis. The school was closed at the time of the announcement, along with other districts in the region, to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.
She carried 20 years of experience in education, which included a previous role at the Hemphill Independent School District in Sabine.
Shaffer, along with all of the students and staff returned to in-person instruction on August 10. The school has some COVID-19 protocols in place as part of a “Progressive Return to School Plan” for the 2021-2022 school year, which includes mask requirements for unvaccinated staff, no mask requirements for students, and a special section for parents permitted to attend Mass during the school day.
meagan.ellsworth@beaumontenterprise.com
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