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Roaring Fork High principal resigns

John Stroud
Carbondale dorrespondent
Aspen, CO Colorado

CARBONDALE ” Dale Parker has announced his intent to resign as principal at Roaring Fork High School in Carbondale after three years at the helm, effective at the end of the current school year.

Roaring Fork School District Superintendent Judy Haptonstall confirmed Wednesday that Park­er advised her Monday that he planned to resign, and followed up with an official resignation letter on Tuesday.

“We talked about it, so I knew it was coming,” she said. “Dale spent some time thinking about it, and decided it was a decision he wanted to make.



“It was Dale’s decision, and not one where he was asked to turn in his resignation or anything like that,” Haptonstall said.

Parker could not be reached for comment Wednesday. Parker has been with the district for eight years, including five as assistant principal at RFHS before he became the head prin­cipal when former principal Wendy Moore retired.




Haptonstall declined to say whether the decision related to criticisms leveled last school year by some parents and teach­ers related to Parker’s manage­ment style, and other concerns about the loss of students and teachers from RFHS to other area schools.

“It’s always hard when you have a member of your leader­ship team, with eight years in the district, leave,” she said. “We are going to miss him and the posi­tive work he has done, and we will wish him the best.”

Parker’s wife, Anita Parker, also works with the school dis­trict as an elementary instruc­tional facilitator in the district office.

The resignation means the school district will be looking to replace two high school principals for next school year. Basalt High School Principal Jim Waddick announced at the beginning of the school year that he would be retiring after this year.

The district will begin inter­viewing seven finalists for the Basalt position on March 17, and will be taking applications for the RFHS principal’s position until April 4.

An interview committee made up of high school staff and par­ents will be organized to screen applicants and determine what qualities they would like to see in a new principal. Interviews will begin in late April, Haptonstall said.