Popular Mt. Hope principal takes central office job, but parents still want her back

BRISTOL — The beloved principal of Mt. Hope High School told families she is taking an administrative position in the district despite a huge campaign by families and students that she be allowed to continue at the high school.

Monday night, the Bristol-Warren School Committee approved Deb DiBiase as the new director of multi-tiered systems of support, which include academic and behavioral supports and interventions, attendance, dropout prevention, social-emotional learning and school climate and culture.

The position is for two years only and will be paid for with federal funds from the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief fund.

When asked by a local resident, school officials said DiBiase was qualified for the job. The position was posted about two months ago and attracted at least six candidates. The salary was not disclosed.

"The outcome is not what we had wanted," said Nina Murphy, a Bristol resident and parent. "However, while some members of the School Committee achieved their goal of removing Dr. DiBiase from the building, they were not successful in removing her from our district because of the outpouring of public support. As a result, in her new district-level position, many families will benefit from Dr. D's expertise, her guidance and her dedication to Bristol-Warren students in the years to come.”

In an email to the school community last week, DiBiase said she had accepted the new position.

DiBiase, who was named Rhode Island Principal of the Year last year, was told last month that her contract as high school principal would not be renewed, a decision that shocked her and outraged her supporters, who flocked to school committee meetings and launched an online petition that drew nearly 1,000 signatures.  

More: Mt. Hope High School wants its principal to stay. The School Committee isn't so sure.

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More: 'We have a problem': Mt. Hope High students want 3 school committee members to resign

The School Committee has refused to explain why DiBiase’s contract as principal wasn’t renewed, infuriating parents who say she has infused the high school with a fresh sense of shared values and community spirit.

“Although I will no longer be solely at Mt. Hope High School, this position will allow me to continue working in the entire community with administrators, teachers, students, families and community partners throughout all the schools in the district,” she wrote in her email to families.

“Words cannot express how grateful I am for the outpouring of support I have received from so many of you over the last several weeks,” she wrote. “Your confidence and belief in me have encouraged me to keep moving forward. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you.

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The Journal has reached out to DiBiase and Supt. Ana Riley for comment along with Marjorie J. McBride, chairwoman of the School Committee.

Although the School Committee agenda included a contract for a new high school principal, it wasn't voted on in Monday night's meeting.

Here's what parents are saying about Principal DiBiase 

During interviews last month, parents called Dr. D, as she is known, "the anchor of the school.”

Anne Bartoszuk, a parent, said, “She cares about every single kid. In my son’s freshman year, she was an island for him.”

Last month, DiBiase said Riley told her the committee might not renew her contract.

“What can I say? I love my job,” she said then. When she started at Mt. Hope eight years ago, she said, it felt like coming home.

This is only the latest in a series of controversies that have roiled the regional school district.

 Linda Borg covers education for the Journal.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Bristol principal Deb DiBiase is being moved to the central office