Ellsworth students return to school Rally planned today to continue protest

ELLSWORTH – Ellsworth High School students continued their protests Friday, but they did so without skipping classes.

The students returned to school after two days of boycotting classes to voice their opposition to the school board’s decision earlier this week not to renew the contract of Assistant Principal Michael Wright.

The school board Tuesday voted unanimously during an open meeting not to renew Wright’s contract, noting his performance had not improved and he was not a team player.

“Everything was quiet,” Superintendent Jack Turcotte said Friday afternoon. “All the students were in class, and we had what we would consider a normal day.”

On Wednesday, much of the student body skipped classes and marched en masse to City Hall to protest the board’s decision.

On Thursday, warned that any further skipping of classes would result in disciplinary action, about 150 students refused to attend classes and were suspended for one day.

They then marched again from the Mill Mall to City Hall in support of Wright.

The high school has a progressive disciplinary policy, and if the students had skipped classes again Friday, they would have received a longer suspension.

Although they attended classes Friday, students did gather after school, and a small contingent, carrying placards and homemade signs supporting Wright, marched again to City Hall for a brief rally.

Student leaders have vowed to continue their protests and planned to circulate petitions seeking a new school board meeting to discuss Wright’s contract. They said Thursday that they hoped to get parents and other adults in the community involved in the protest.

A student and community march is planned for 2 p.m. today starting at the high school.