AMHERST — A search for a new Amherst Regional Middle School principal may have to start over after the lone remaining finalist for the position withdrew from consideration, even though she had been invited for a site visit.

Gabrielle Jackson, resident principal and director of academic interventions at the Springfield Empowerment Zone Partnership, turned down an opportunity to tour the school where seventh and eighth graders from Amherst, Pelham, Leverett and Shutesbury are educated, according to a letter sent to families by Superintendent Michael Morris on Friday.

“It was my belief that Ms. Jackson has high potential and deserved fair consideration for the ARMS principal position,” Morris wrote, noting that online surveys following a virtual public interview were slightly positive, despite what he characterized as an organized campaign to give negative feedback to Jackson.

“To that end, we invited Ms. Jackson to make a site visit to ARMS so the community could offer their thoughts about her candidacy with an open mind after meeting her in person,” Morris wrote. “She declined that offer,” he wrote, and asked that a statement be shared with the middle school community.

In the statement from Jackson embedded in the email from Morris, she expressed gratitude for being named a finalist and completing a virtual interview to succeed Diego Sharon, who announced over the winter that he would be stepping down July 1 after three years leading the middle school.

“While I will not be joining the ARMS community as principal this summer, I am excited to support the team from afar and look forward to seeing the progress you all make, together,” Jackson wrote.

“The ARMS community has the ideas, passion, and determination to make meaningful change and now is the time to stand together, support one another in deep and meaningful ways and build each other up, empowering diversity in thought, voice and ideas.”

The middle school principal search was fraught with complications from the start, as an internal candidate, favored in a letter signed by 10 middle school educators and supported by another 12 anonymous educators,was sent to Morris, Assistant Superintendent of Diversity, Equity and Human Resources Doreen Cunningham and the school committees, was not selected as one of the two finalists. Tonya Brodd, superintendent and director of special education at Pointe Educational Services in Phoenix, Arizona, joined Jackson as the other finalist, but got another job and withdrew before her public interview.

Once there was just one candidate remaining, teachers and other staff expressed concern over the lack of choice, said Alicia Lopez, a longtime teacher. Lopez was among the curriculum leaders and department heads who reached out to Morris with concerns about the secrecy of the search process and not fulfilling the process to get a more diverse leadership team in place.

The search process typically involves both a screening committee and a separate interview committee. The screening committee examines resumes and then doesn’t forward certain information to the interview committee, including resumes. This two-step process has been a means of diversifying the staff, which also includes having the interview committee focus on asking consistent, prescribed questions to all applicants and having a robust conversation.

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