MSD principal under investigation

Former West Broward principal Teresa Hall to take over for Ty Thompson

Ty Thompson, the principal of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, is now under investigation and will have a new job at the Parkland school.

It’s the latest in a string of administrative shakeups since a former student murdered 17 people at the school Feb. 14, 2018. Stoneman Douglas added a second principal last spring and transferred three assistant principals in November to jobs while investigating their roles in the massacre.

Now Thompson, who has led the school since 2013, will give up day-to-day operations while he, too, is being investigated. He will instead oversee recovery efforts as well as construction plans for a new building to replace the one where the shooting happened. Those duties had been handled by former West Broward Principal Teresa Hall, who will take over Thompson’s old job.

The district also is bringing back the school’s former principal, Dan Traeger, to provide “additional oversight and support,” district spokeswoman Kathy Koch said. He led the school from 2001 until 2008, when he left to open West Broward High. While at West Broward, he hired Hall as an assistant principal. She replaced him after he retired in 2013.

Traeger’s education certificate expired in June, making him ineligible under state law to be a principal or assistant principal. It’s unclear whether the certificate is needed for his new role with the district. Neither Traeger nor district officials could be reached for comment about that issue.

Thompson is the fifth administrator at the school to be investi-