A former principal in Manchester has filed a wrongful termination and whistleblower lawsuit against the Manchester School District SAU 37.
Sarah Lynch alleges she was wrongfully fired from Webster Elementary School in October and is seeking compensatory damages from the District and its superintendent, Dr. Bolgen Vargas, and assistant superintendent, Amy Allen.
The lawsuit says the District claimed to terminate Lynch for improper use of school funds and failure to follow hiring protocol but that it actually fired Lynch for calling attention to “a litany of illegal practices” by the district, including chronically underfunding and understaffing a program at Webster Elementary for students with Emotional Behavoiral Disorder (EBD).
Lynch began working as principal of Webster in July 2016. The lawsuit says she and other educators regularly plead with the school district to increase funding for the EBD program and add a security guard because of safety concerns.
It says Lynch was beaten by a student in February 2018 and suffered a concussion.
Lynch was placed on administrative leave in September before her termination, prompting outcry and questions to the District from parents from ever since.
The Manchester School District has not commented on the details of Lynch’s termination but in a statement on Monday, it said it had conducted a full investigation into Lynch - including hiring an outside party - and that the board's unanimous decision to terminate her was “not made lightly.”
