Algonquin principal put on administrative leave

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Lynn Patterson, principal of Algonquin School in Prospect, was placed on administrative leave Wednesday morning. –RA ARCHIVE

PROSPECT — Algonquin School Principal Lynn Patterson was placed on administrative leave Wednesday morning pending the outcome of an investigation into a personnel matter.

“I’m reviewing a personnel matter,” interim Superintendent of Schools Tim James said.

Region 16 Board of Education Chair Priscilla Cretella said Patterson was placed on leave Wednesday morning with pay after meeting with James at the school. No students or teachers were present at the time, she said, since school had been canceled due to the weather.

James said he began to hear personnel concerns regarding Patterson when he first arrived as interim superintendent early this year. Then on Monday, he said, another, different concern was raised.

“At that point I felt I needed to do a more in depth review,” James said.

James declined to specify on the concerns or who raised them. Both James and Cretella declined to comment on the details of the personnel matter under investigation.

The matter is not a criminal or safety issue, they said.

“It was not a safety issue,” Cretella said.

James said the investigation is expected to be complete by the end of next week. Andrea Einhorn, the district’s curriculum director and assistant director of special education, was named acting principal at Algonquin, Cretella said.

Patterson, of South Glastonbury, has been a long-serving principal at Algonquin, which serves pre-kindergarten through third-grade students at 30 Coer Road.

Patterson came to Algonquin after she worked in the Manchester school system as the language arts consultant at Nathan Hale Elementary School for seven years.

A New Jersey native, Patterson graduated from American University in Washington, D.C., in 1971, and earned her master’s degree in education from Duke University in North Carolina.

Her professional experience has stretched the Atlantic Coast, with most of it in Loudon County, Va.

She worked as a first-grade teacher for three years in New Jersey before she worked as a reading resource coordinator for the Loudon County Board of Education. She also served as an assistant principal at two schools in that county.

The Republican American contributed to this story.