Citing a need for more family time and work-family balance, esteemed Chelsea High School (CHS) Principal Joe Mullaney notified school officials and colleagues last Friday that he would be stepping down in June.
Mullaney wasn’t immediately available for comment due to the February School Vacation schedule, but in a letter to his colleagues at CHS he cited that the principal job has been very demanding and he needed to find a position that offered a better professional life and family life balance.
“The decision was not an easy one,” he wrote. “My hope is that my future work in the education field will allow me to find a greater balance between my family life and my professional life.”
Supt. Mary Bourque said Mullaney had chosen to notify her and others at this point so that an exhaustive search could immediately get underway and a replacement could be sitting by September. His last official day will be June 30, Bourque said.
“Although we are sad for Chelsea High School and Chelsea Public Schools, we are happy for Joe as he seeks the next chapter of his career in education,” she said. “I will be making decisions within the coming weeks of how best to go about filling Joe’s position and thereby keeping the improvement momentum going at CHS.”
She added that education careers are very demanding and under-valued. She said they are particularly tough to balance with a healthy family life.
“Education is a demanding profession and very much under-valued in our society,” she said. “Our educators sacrifice many hours of family time beyond the compensated school day to ‘be present’ for our students and families. They do it willingly and with purpose so that the doors of opportunity are opened for each generation. Sometimes, we forget as a society to say ‘thank you’ for the time and the sacrifice spent. It is time now to say a public ‘thank you’ to Principal Mullaney and to all educators in the Chelsea Public Schools for their endless dedication and day-to day work.”
Mullaney has ushered in a number of accolades recently at CHS, including last year’s groundbreaking announcement from the College Board about Chelsea being one of the top performing urban districts in the country.
Mullaney has, additionally, made a big push in his time at CHS for students to take Advanced Placement (AP) courses – sometimes even having private meetings with promising students to encourage them to challenge themselves.
He has worked in the district for 17 years.