Walsh Jesuit president leaving Cuyahoga Falls school at end of next school year
Walsh Jesuit High School President Karl Ertle will step down at the end of the 2022-2023 school year.
Ertle notified the chool’s board of directors of his decision Tuesday morning. A prepared statement from the Cuyahoga Falls private school did not list any reasons for his decision. The board will assemble a search committee to find a replacement.
More: Secret indictments: A year after drunken Silver Lake party, four teens now face charges
Board Chairman Thomas Haag said in a prepared statement that board members appreciated Ertle’s “commitment to furthering the mission of Jesuit education.”
Haag said Ertle will concentrate on maintaining an “exceptional experience” for students and achieving the school’s fundraising goals during his remaining year at the school.
Ertle became the school’s 11th president in 2010, and only the second who was not a Jesuit priest since the school’s founding in 1964.
Ertle received perhaps the most difficult test of his tenure after a March 27, 2021, party involving Walsh Jesuit students that led to criminal charges over activities captured on video at a Silver Lake home.
Video of the incident circulated among students from Walsh and elsewhere, and parents expressed outrage at the clip — which they said showed individuals using the nozzle of a bottle of hand sanitizer to tamper with the body of an 18-year-old male who had passed out and was in a state of undress.
The Summit County Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation, and Walsh conducted its own review. The school prevented six students from finishing the academic year there or graduating with Walsh's class of 2021 as a result.
In March, four former students of the school were charged in a secret indictment with felonies stemming from the incident. They were arraigned on April 6.
On a more positive note, the school received national coverage this spring when 16-year-old student Emyrson Flora sang her way into the Top 10 of this season's “American Idol.”
She became the youngest contestant to ever make it to the singing talent show's Top 10.
More: It's back to school at Walsh Jesuit for Emyrson Flora after Top 10 run on 'American Idol'
During the show, Flora had a tutor who worked with Walsh Jesuit teachers to keep her on track with the college preparatory school’s classes. She was eliminated from further competition May 1.
Before coming to Walsh Jesuit, Ertle had been president and principal of Cleveland Central Catholic High School.
Haag said the 1,000-student school is in a strong position heading into Ertle’s final year, with a “stellar” class of incoming students and a strong leadership team.
Leave a message for Alan Ashworth at 330-996-3859 or email him at aashworth@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @newsalanbeaconj.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Walsh Jesuit president leaving Cuyahoga Falls school next year
