Oxbridge school to cast wide net for new leader
Koch-founded academy was rocked by claims of top-staff improprieties.
WEST PALM BEACH — Oxbridge Academy Head of School John Klemme, promoted to the post in 2016 after previous leader Bob Parsons left in scandal, will step down in 14 months to return to teaching English at the private high school.
Oxbridge trustees plan to conduct “a worldwide search” to fill the job, the school announced this past week.
Klemme, who is 67, was a founding member of the faculty in 2011 and was promoted to academic dean and then to head of school.
The school revamped its leadership this past year, after reporting by The Palm Beach Post prompted Palm Beach billionaire Bill Koch, the school’s founder, to order an internal investigation. Past and present employees at the time described a working atmosphere fraught with firings, high turnover, accusations of sexual harassment and an emphasis tilting from academics to athletics.
Parsons, hand-picked by Koch to be the founding chief executive and president, was fired and the contracts of the school’s athletic director and football coach were not renewed. Ulle Boshko, the woman who sparked the investigation by alleging Parsons demoted her for refusing sexual advances, also was fired.
Klemme was moved up as a steadying hand for the school, which is at 3151 N. Military Trail.
“Serving as head of school at Oxbridge has been an honor and an incredible experience for me both personally and professionally,” Klemme said. “But ultimately my heart belongs in the classroom, with the students,