Tewksbury Parents Want Answers On Principal's Resignation

TEWKSBURY, MA -- Matthew Castonguay resigned as principal of the Trahan Elementary School in Tewksbury, and parents wanted answers from the school committee when the body met Wednesday night. Castonguay was named interim principal of the school at the start of the 2014-15 school year and named the permanent principal in February 2015, but his contract was not renewed for the upcoming school year.

Castonguay sent an email to parents on May 2 saying he was stepping down at the end of the year. Patch has reached out to Castonguay, Tewksbury Superintendent Christopher Malone and all five members of the school committee for comment. This article will be updated when we hear back from them.

Several parents spoke at Wednesday night's meeting, but committee members declined to speak at length on the issue because it is a personnel issue. While Castonguay submitted a resignation letter effective June 30, several parents were under the impression he had been forced to resign because the school system did not renew his contract.

At Wednesday night's meeting, Chair Krissy M. Polimeno tried to limit parents to two minutes as they made comments and prevent parents from directly addressing the superintendent. About 30 Trahan parents attended the meeting.

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Patch file photo of Matthew Castonguay with students and Tewksbury Police Officer Chris Adams in December.

Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).