In explaining her surprise resignation, Haines School superintendent Ginger Jewell this week focused solely on family concerns and was unable to cite any unique challenges she faced leading the district during the past year.
In an interview Wednesday, Jewell said her frustrations with the job were personal ones. “I felt I should have gotten so much more accomplished. I have high expectations for myself.”
That she didn’t get more done owed to a big workload, she said. “I spent a lot of time really, really just doing work instead of thought work. There was a lot of work as special education director that took lots of time, as well as a review of district policies,” she said.
Jewell, who signed a three-year contract last year, notified school board president Anne Marie Palmieri Sunday that she had accepted a superintendent job in Echols County Schools in south Georgia.
In a resignation letter to the board dated June 16, Jewell said, “There will be those who think my decision is a result of public opinion and there will be those who may not believe this is my decision at all, but the truth is it is my decision and life is too short to be away from those you love.”
Jewell said she included the letter’s wording about choice “because (my resignation) was sudden and I think that could be misinterpreted.”
The resignation came midway through Jewell’s evaluation by the school board. Neither Palmieri nor Jewell could say this week whether the evaluation would be completed.
In the interview, Jewell said her decision to leave was based “mostly” on her family, including her desire to spend time with her 98-year-old mother. “My mother is elderly and declining at a much more rapid rate than I anticipated.”
Asked what other reasons factored into her decision, Jewell said: “It’s really a feeling of not being able to participate so much in my own life. I’ve been away (from family in Georgia) seven years.”
Palmieri said the board was surprised by Jewell’s decision. “When we had her evaluation, she was asked if she wanted to stay and intended to stay and she said yes,” Palmieri said.
“I did (want to stay),” Jewell said in the interview. “The (Echols job offer) came as a complete surprise to me. I didn’t expect it.”
Jewell said she applied for the job in April and it was the only one she pursued. She applied for it because superintendent turnover is low in the area and the district was located very close to her mother.
As accomplishments, Jewell cited her “Engaging the Future” computer initiative, “developing processes for doing things so there’s a consistent approach to tasks,” establishing “consistent professional development time” for teachers and “removing as many hats as possible from teachers so they could just teach.”
She said she would continue an offer through her husband, a procurement agent, that allows the district to purchase large school items at discounted rates.
Jewell also mentioned her husband’s inability to telecommute from Haines, as they had planned.
“It was never our intention for me to be here alone. He was planning to work from here but local infrastructure doesn’t support someone who needs great Internet connectivity any time of the day or night.”
Palmieri declined comment on Jewell’s performance. She said Jewell’s sudden departure might make finding a replacement difficult. The district may hire an interim superintendent instead and take a year to find a permanent one, she said.
“It would have been preferable for us to know this was in the works and for us to know it was so challenging for (Jewell) to be away from her family. We could have put some structures in place,” Palmieri said.
Jewell will work until July 1. She said she would attend a school board workshop June 23 and board meeting June 29.
Board members voted unanimously to let Jewell out of her contract following a 25-minute executive session Wednesday, Palmieri said.