The search for a permanent principal at Hanover Elementary School will continue, after candidate Ralph Andrews declined Bethlehem Area School District’s employment offer.
Round 2 interviews are underway, and the district plans to bring a finalist to the school board for approval Dec. 15, Bethlehem Area Superintendent Jack Silva said in an email.
Andrews, currently the elementary principal for the Parkside Education Center and S.S. Palmer Elementary in Palmerton Area School District, had been named to the Hanover Elementary principal position in September, pending board approval.
An item on Bethlehem Area School Board’s Monday agenda notes his decision to decline the district’s offer. Hanover Elementary also posted a notice on its website. The Morning Call has contacted Andrews for comment.
Before taking on his current position in 2021, Andrews was assistant principal at Robert Clemente Charter School in Allentown. He began his career in Palmerton Area School District teaching sixth grade and eighth grade math.
Eric Fontanez, Bethlehem Area supervisor of equity initiatives and a former district elementary principal, has been overseeing administrative duties at Hanover Elementary since March, when principal Erin Hines was placed on leave.
Fontanez will remain at Hanover until the next principal begins, Silva said.
