This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Oct. 18, 2012 - Citing personal and family considerations, Normandy schools Superintendent Stanton Lawrence, whose north St. Louis County district is set to lose its accreditation as of Jan. 1, will resign as of the end of the current school year, the district announced Thursday.
In a letter, Lawrence said that recent personal and family circumstances made him reconsider his commitment to remain in the district. William Humphrey, vice president of the Normandy school board, said Lawrence will remain in his job through June 30, 2013. His contract was due to expire on June 20, 2015.
The district said no financial settlement was involved in Lawrence's departure. "I wish the district the very best in the future," his letter of resignation said, "and am agreeable to the terms of my departure that you believe to be reasonable and fair."
Lawrence said in his letter, dated Tuesday of this week, that he is “totally indebted to the Board of Directors for allowing me the opportunity to serve. I am also genuinely appreciative of the great students, outstanding staff as well as the community, elected officials and others for the support they provided me during my time here.”
And, he added, "I could not be prouder of the outstanding work that has been done on behalf of boys and girls. Through the most trying of circumstances, our teachers and leaders remained focused on the work of improving teaching and learning. I applaud these outsanding educators for their sacrifice and selflessness."
Prior to becoming superintendent in Normandy in 2008, Lawrence had served as a classroom teacher, assistant principal, elementary and high school principal.
The next year, state officials announced the district would absorb the neighboring Wellston schools, which had lost accreditation. Lawrence said that move later led to Normandy's also losing accreditation, a move approved by the state school board last month.
Lawrence called that decision “immensely unfair” and said that because Normandy helped out state school officials by bringing in the Wellston students, Normandy deserved additional consideration and time to improve its academic performance and retain accreditation.
Besides taking over Wellston, during Lawrence’s tenure Normandy:
- Cut its budget and laid off staff,
- Reorganized the district, requiring all non-teaching employees to reapply for their jobs,
- Established partnerships with outside groups such as the 24:1 plan of Beyond Housing.
Saying that Lawrence plans to pursue other career opportunities, likely in his native Texas, where he and his wife just became grandparents, Humphrey said:
“We understand Dr. Lawrence’s interest in being responsive to the needs of his family, and recent developments related to our classification probably make this a natural transition point to consider new leadership.
“At this point in time, we have promising central office and school leadership in place as well as plans to ensure continued progress. We sincerely appreciate Dr. Lawrence’s contributions to the district and wish him the very best as he moves forward with his career.”