NORTHAMPTON — The only finalist for the job as principal of Northampton High School fielded questions from the community Wednesday, saying that he was committed to support students of color, diversity and equity, while also working with the schools white population to teach them to recognize their privilege and role in society.

William Wehrli, a former assistant principal at Amherst Regional High School who is currently assistant director at New England Association of Schools and Colleges, also discussed his approach to civics in education, his leadership style and education in a post-COVID world.

A resident of Amherst, Wehrli has more than 30 years in educational experience.

His daylong visit Wednesday began with a meeting with school administrators before taking a tour of the school. He then met with various student organizations and visited classrooms before holding two separate forums to field questions. The first forum was held among faculty and staff, and the second one was held as an hourlong public forum in the school’s auditorium.

At the public forum, Wehrli spoke about his meeting with the students and with the student union, saying he was impressed with their curiosity and attentiveness.

“The student union prepared a list of questions, sat in the front row with their laptops open and their questions ready to go,” he said. “It just speaks really well to the school, the students and the adults who are working with them, and just makes me feel that much more clear that I would like to be here.”

Asked about his approach to civics in education, Wehrli stated his belief that schools had an important role to play in sustaining American democracy.

“I think a lot about the role of schools in a democratic society, and how do we model democratic norms, which seem to be broken at the national level,” he said. “But a lot of really good democracy happens at the local level.”

He described his leadership style as “collaborative,” working with students and staff to achieve ambitious educational goals. Regarding the addressing of changes in the educational system following the pandemic, Wehrli called the issue an “essential question,” but one that would require working with the community to find the answer to.

If officially named school principal, Wehrli would be the first permanent principal since Lori Vaillancourt, who resigned after internal emails obtained via public records requests showed her referring to students as “asshats” and led to accusations of insincerity about a commitment to student equity. This resulted in an investigation, the results of which have not been released to the public, followed by Vaillancourt’s resignation. Former JFK Middle School Principal Lesley Wilson has been serving as a substitute principal since the departure of Vaillancourt.

Addressing concerns

Wehrli addressed parent’s concerns regarding supporting diversity and underprivileged students. He talked about one of his previous roles, as assistant principal at Amherst Regional High School, and how the school was a member of the Minority Student Achievement Network, a group of 27 schools across the country that works to eliminate racial opportunity gaps in education. In his most recent role as assistant director at New England Association of Schools and Colleges, he is a co-facilitator of the Equity Working Group, working with member public schools to ensure their standards and materials align with their stated commitments to diversity and equity.

Wehrli said that he was committed to supporting students of color in the district, but also that he would work with the school’s white population to teach them to recognize their privilege and role in society.

“I certainly want to elevate the importance of identifying and supporting students of color and other students from historically marginalized communities,” he said. “I also want to make sure that we’re doing the work with white folks as well.”

The official decision on hiring a new principal is expected to come sometime in early December, according to interim Superintendent Jannell Pearson-Campbell. Wehrli was selected as a final candidate out of 14 who applied for the position, according to the superintendent’s office.

Alexander MacDougall can be reached at amacdougall@gazettenet.com.]]>