Only four weeks into the 2016-17 school year and Weatherly Area School District’s Middle/High School Principal Amanda Zaremba handed in a letter of resignation to go into effect Friday.

Zaremba was hired in March 2016 for the role of high school principal. At the close of the school year the district saw a change in administration when Thomas McLaughlin added principal of kindergarten through second grade to his superintendent duties. Sandra Slavick was changed from elementary school principal to supervisor of special education while retaining principal responsibilities of third, fourth and fifth grades. Zaremba was slated to serve as middle and high school principal.The district educates 670 students from kindergarten to 12th grade.Zaremba has an extensive background in education, starting as a teacher at Pocono Mountain Regional, then moving to Panther Valley Middle School as principal, before landing at Behavioral Health Administration as the director of education for nine years where she oversaw education programing for 29 schools that fall under BHA’s reach before being hired in Weatherly.At the beginning of her employment Zaremba had aspirations to improve the relationship between the district and community.“We’re very committed to the town,” she had said of her family in March. “I plan on being here a very long time; as long as they will have me.”The board was reluctant to speculate on the reason for Zaremba’s resignation.Two district residents spoke of the principal’s ending employment.Lisa Bartel, a mother of four, said she has a child in every level of the district,“To say I’m disappointed is an understatement. We have great kids here. A lack of innovation is not being addressed. When the new principal started I thought it would be a fresh set of eyes,” she said.“As a taxpayer I wanted to know why the restructuring, why such a change,” she asked the board.Board President Girard Fewins explained the responsibilities of the administrators were changed, “to save $150,000. To save our district.”Isabella Wagner asked the board about the goals for district’s upcoming year.“It appears the board is in crisis mode,” she said.Fewins said the board plans to keep moving things forward.“Weatherly scores are very high and I’ll fight hard to keep it that way,” he said.Wagner advised the members to try thinking outside the box for new ideas to keep the school afloat.Board member Matthew vonFrisch told Wagner reaching out to parents and residents is a main goal for the new curriculum/technology committee. Meetings for the new group will be held at 6 p.m. the second Wednesday of the month before the regular board meeting.“Just so everyone knows, our email is on the website,” board member William Knepper said.Knepper told the concerned parents a new committee will be formed to act as a bridge between the administration and teachers from each of the three education levels.“We want to get issues from the school and talk about the great things that happen, too. The only thing we will not discuss are negotiations. It’s to better coordinate communication,” he said.Superintendent McLaughlin wished Zaremba well, “I just want to say thank you to her. I certainly enjoyed working with her.”The board also accepted the resignation of long-term varsity softball coach Margaret Brown. According to the board Brown had been the softball coach for 30 years.