Libby Center principal leaves for new Spokane school district role

The timing isn’t ideal, everyone admits, but the Libby Center is getting a change of management.

According to Spokane Public Schools, Principal Debra DeWitt has made a “personal decision to step away from the daily demands of being a principal” to fill a sudden vacancy at the district level.

DeWitt will be replaced by current Audubon Elementary School Principal Kimberly Stretch, who was introduced to parents at a gathering Tuesday at Libby.

Stretch will take over at Libby after the district selects an interim principal at Audubon.

“It’s a great opportunity and something I couldn’t pass up,” said Stretch, a longtime administrator with the district at Garry, Sacajawea and Shaw middle schools.

“I have always loved options programs and providing instruction that meets kids’ needs,” said Stretch, who has worked in gifted and talented programs during 20-plus years with the district.

The job at the Libby Center represents a homecoming for Stretch, who taught there from 1997 to 2002.

The district hopes to allay parents’ worries over the abrupt change.

“We are excited for you to get to know Mrs. Stretch and recognize that a midyear transition can have challenges,” Superintendent Shelley Redinger said in a letter sent this week to Libby parents.

“Her passion for the school and students and the amazing staff she is joining will continue the student learning and progress that is already well underway,” Redinger said.

Stretch hopes parents will reach out. “Families are going to have questions, and I want them to know that I have the education and passion for this,” Stretch said.

The Libby Center is home to the Odyssey and Tessera programs for gifted education. It also hosts the growing Spanish Immersion program. Libby has 430 students in grades K-8.

DeWitt, the principal at Libby since August 2014, will replace Jeannette Vaughn as the district’s director of K-12 Innovation.

Vaughn recently took an administrative position with the Washington State Charter Schools Association.