Two years ago, just after the re-assignment of the priest who founded our remarkable school and a few weeks after the sudden death of Deacon Frank Cromer, at the height of the academic success of our students, our new Pastor and the founding Principal decided to part ways and very soon after we learned that Dr. Mark Newcomb, a former school dad, would take over the school.  All teachers worried about this change but hoped a new regime would smooth out some of the rough edges of the first eight years.  As Dr. Newcomb took over the reins of the school, teachers quickly learned that he was as green to teaching and school leadership as Father Eurel was to being a Pastor and worries began.  Though Dr. Newcomb had worked at the college level he had never even volunteered in a high school or grade school, but he quickly showed the teachers that he wanted to change things in the school. 

Over the course of his first year, teachers began to quietly express to parents that they felt he was trying to push out the teachers who had been at the school longest.  Though the year was quiet in public, he made clear to the higher paid staff members, in public comments, that they were totally replaceable.  He also expressed again and again that he was dissatisfied with the "elitist" qualities in the school and that he intended to work to change that.  In just that first school year, we now know the results from our test scores worsened.  After seven straight years of upward growth in scores that lifted us to being the highest scoring school in Texas, we saw our first drop in scores and it was significant.  

Last Summer and Fall, teacher grousing and worry grew substantially louder with many private complaints by teachers of both favoritism and retaliation reaching the ears of Father Eurel.  Fears of a plan by Dr. Newcomb to purge the school of every teacher who had supported the old Principal were expressed to the Cardinal and to the Superintendent of Catholic Schools also.  Father Eurel had denied such a plan existed even though such a plan had been discussed both with him and with select members of the school advisory board.  Father Eurel rejected that plan to remove 11 teachers but accepted a modified plan that pushes out about half of Dr. Newcomb's targets.  Despite Dr. Newcomb's command that their dismissals be kept confidential, it is now known that Mr. Kevin Boyle, Mr. Lamar Holt, Dr. Dean Cassella, Mrs. Wendy Abraham, and Mr. Kevin McCaffrey were let go since Christmas.

What was already a cold chill within the teacher community is now a deep freeze.  Half the rest of the teachers have been led to believe their names were on the same list and have begun searching for new jobs for next year.  Some teachers are clearly not being targeted, but there is real fear among two thirds of the staff of the school.

And in the midst of all this, the man in charge is getting more and more critical of the people who ran the school prior to 2015.  With no involvement in those years and with none of the leadership here to defend themselves, he is stirring up concern by saying current problems are the fault of Mr. Beeeson and Father Reynolds and Deacon Frank Cromer.

Many old guard families know that the glue that kept Saint Theresa School strong from 2009 to 2016 was Deacon Frank Cromer, God rest his soul.  He hired Mr. Beeson and the first crew of teachers and helped everybody remember the Peace of the Lord over those seven years when things were chaotic.  He knew the peculiar qualities of both Father Reynolds and Mr. Beeson and he was aware of so many home problems and mini crises in the lives of the school staff.  In gentle ways, when things got as little too tense or tempers flared, he counseled the leaders one on one in ways that helped the school stay on course and grow more and more excellent.  Sadly, he died at the moment he was most needed on November 13, 2015.  And in the 27 months since his passing, there is no longer anyone who can bridge the differences.

Dr. Newcomb needs a shepherd.  The teachers need a boss who unites them in charity and common purpose.  The national reputation of Saint Theresa Catholic School that earned us accolades just a few years ago in USA Today and the Washington Post, requires not only peace but also good care and nurturing of both the spiritual life and the curriculum by a united school staff.  The school community has much strength but the cracks in the edifice are serious and potentially catastrophic.  Some parents know this but they don't know what to do.  Many more parents are in the dark altogether.

What seems clear is that we have had too much change over these two years and it needs to slow down.  We have had too much chaos.  There have been too many insults and attacks and condemnations.  This is a time for humble recognition that maybe mistakes have been made by the leadership but promises to restore peace and harmony.  It is not enough to offer quiet but vague promises that things will be better.  We need a real family meeting and a renewal of trust in the faculty that can only come from concrete actions by the Pastor and Head of School.

Deacon Frank, pray for us! Little Flower, pray for us! Holy Mary, Undoer of Knots, pray for us!