Stoneman Douglas gets a new leader
Kefford recently named Florida’s 2019 principal of the year
An award-winning principal with strong ties to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High has been tapped as the school’s next leader.
Michelle Kefford, principal at Charles Flanagan High in Pembroke Pines, was recently named Florida’s 2019 principal of the year. She will replace Ty Thompson, who announced Friday he is stepping down at the end of the school year.
Kefford, who is 44 and lives in Parkland, previously taught biology at Stoneman Douglas. Her son is a ninth-grader at the school. She will take on her new role July 1.
“I’m excited by the opportunity to go back home. Marjory Stoneman Douglas is like going home. I was there when I started my career 20 years ago,” Kefford said. “It was an amazing experience. It inspired me to go into school leadership.”
At Flanagan, she was named as the district’s principal of the year in 2018 and this spring, the Department of Education gave her that honor for the state of Florida.
“Michelle Kefford has been determined to be the top-ranking principal in the entire state of Florida, so it doesn’t get any better than that,” said Lisa Maxwell, executive director of the Broward Principals and Assistants Association. “She could go anywhere in the country and be a phenomenal principal. In my opinion, the community is fortunate to have her. I think she will do an amazing job.”
Kefford has worked for the district since 1999, teaching at Stoneman Douglas until 2005, when she became an assistant principal at Western High in Davie. She spent a year as an assistant principal at Boyd Anderson High in Lauderdale Lakes from 2010-11 before being named principal at Flanagan in 2011. The school received its first A grade from the state at the end
of her first year and has kept that grade every year since except 2016 when it was Brated.
In a news conference Monday afternoon, Superintendent Robert Runcie said Kefford “works continuously to build an enormous culture of pride with her staff and students.”
Stoneman Douglas has gone through administrative turmoil and uncertainty this school year as a result of the massacre that killed 17 people on Feb. 14, 2018.
Thompson made a robocall to parents Friday, announcing that he was leaving at the end of the school year. He said the challenges of the past year had taken their toll and he “just can’t continue at this pace.”
“Advisers and fellow colleagues always said take care of yourself. If at any point you feel like it is affecting your family or your health, you need to make a change,” he said. “That time has come.”
However, he plans to stay in the district working in a yet-to-be-determined administrative job, Maxwell
and Runcie said.
The school has also been led by Co-Principal Teresa Hall. She plans to remain a district administrator, but her assignment hasn’t been announced yet, according to a district memo issued Monday. The memo also says that Kefford’s job at Flanagan hasn’t been filled yet.
Hall initially led Stoneman Douglas’s recovery efforts and plans for a new building while Thompson handled day-to-day functions. But they switched roles in March after the district announced Thompson was under investigation for what role his leadership may have played in the tragedy.
As to why Hall didn’t stay at the school, Maxwell said, “People fail to understand the intensity of a tragedy of this magnitude. It takes an incredible human toll, especially for anyone leading the school.”
It remains unclear what will happen to three assistant principals — Jeff Morford, Winifred Porter and Denise Reed— who were transferred out of the school in November, after a report by the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Public
Safety Commission questioned their leadership roles related to the massacre.
“I can tell you we have been informed that it is the intention of the district to complete and wrap up the investigation prior to the end of the year,” Maxwell said. “In that context, it’s my expectation they will be appointed as assistant principals somewhere in the district.”
The district has hired an outside law firm to investigate them as well as Thompson and Kelvin Greenleaf, a security specialist at the school.
Three assistant principals currently assigned to the school will remain, teachers were told. They are Ivette Figueroa, Daniel Lechtman and Daniel Most.
Kefford also will appoint three of her own assistant principals.
“I appreciate that the district has decided to move quickly to replace Mr. Thompson,” TV Production teacher Eric Garner said. “That should help in a smooth transition to a new administration. I look forward to meeting her and welcoming her in her new position here.”