Terri Cooper, the superintendent of the RSU 21 district that includes the town of Kennebunk, ended her controversial five years at the helm of the York County school district on Wednesday by resigning to the local board, which quickly accepted her notice of departure.
“I’m sobbing with relief,” said Kennebunk parent Melissa McCue-McGrath. “My child has suffered under the leadership of this administration,” she added.
“We are hurting,” another long-time teacher said at a school board meeting last year.
A school board member in charge of human resources resigned last year saying she felt her family’s safety was in danger, and an assistant principal also quit, citing an unbearably toxic work environment.
30 teachers and ten staff left in recent years all saying problems with administration were the cause of their departures.
[RELATED: Wealthy Maine Town Embroiled in Education Drama]
As parents and teachers chafed under Cooper’s tenure at RDU 21, her supporters say she was good at one thing: public relations surrounding DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion).
Most recently, Cooper had pledged to stand firm in defiance of calls to end biological males competing in female sports in the district, angering many parents who agreed with the recent federal executive order protecting women in sports and feared the potential loss of funding.
“Our community thrives when we embrace and celebrate our differences, when we see each child’s unique journey as worthy of protection and respect,” Cooper said last month.
Apparently not everyone in Kennebunk agreed.
The RSU school board announced it has begun a search for a new superintendent and hope to fill Cooper’s position over the summer.
How is the DEI working out?
“Our community thrives when we embrace and celebrate our differences” Is something someone would say whos never been in maine. I want to live by people who think and have the same values as I do. If I wanted something different do you really think Id be living this liberal, high tax hell hole?
Good riddens to another left wing DEI pusher. Lets treat everyone equally.
The more I hear and read about Kennebunk the less I like it .
What the Democrats have done to the black community by pushing DEI is unforgivable and devastating. All qualified people of color in the job community are now looked upon as unqualified in terms of merit. Everyone now assumes that a person of color in any career position is there because of a DEI hire and will always have a cloud of doubt hanging over their head. This is a terrible thing to do to a race of people. Democrats are the worst racists ever to hold political power. I think they did this intentionally to keep the flame of perceived racism glowing.
Now if we could just get the disgraceful Mills administration to resign.
You all have a lot to say and it’s evident by your comments you don’t live in Kennebunk. The one thing she was good at was DEI and diversity is important to the people of Kennebunk. Bottom line is, to simplify it for you mouth breathers, she was just a bitch.
DEI hire doomed by DEI behavior.
Embattled? How about useless.