Jonathan Lyons has been hired as principal at South Medford High School, replacing Jeremy Hamasu, who resigned. Lyons and Bret Champion, school district superintendent, met with concerned staff members in recent days to answer questions related to the changeover.

Friday was supposed to be a day for South Medford High School employees to pack up and leave for summer vacation, but about 60 of them gathered to meet with district Superintendent Bret Champion about the hiring of a new principal who was forced out of his last job.

Champion spoke to school employees after 68 of them signed a letter requesting a visit to answer questions.

“He stood in front of us for two hours answering questions,” said school Spanish teacher Josh Wallace, unofficial spokesman for the employees. “Did everybody feel a little better? Yes.”

The school board on Thursday officially gave its blessing to the hiring of Jonathan Lyons, most recently principal of Carmel High School in Carmel, California, where the school board had placed him on leave in connection with his handling of a sexual harassment complaint made by one student against another student.

The employee letter requested an audience with Champion on Friday, in the wake of his announcement that Lyons was to be the new principal, following the resignation of Principal Jeremy Hamasu, who is taking a position in another district.

“The last five days at South Medford High School have been difficult,” the letter began, then listed four areas of concern, including turnover among principals and the hiring of Lyons.

“Why would we hire a principal that has to be introduced with a justification?” the letter stated. “In the best of circumstances, being a principal in a large high school is demanding and difficult. One who begins his tenure with the background of being released from his previous administrative position, in a very public way, has an even greater challenge. Why would we intentionally bring this drama into our school community?”

Champion June 5 announced the hiring of Lyons, in an email to school families.

“We’ve heard some concerns from staff and families about his background in regards to news articles published surrounding his time as principal in Carmel,” Champion wrote. “I want to assure you, we did a thorough check into his background and see no cause for concern. The issue that led to his departure from his last district centered around a technical reporting concern surrounding a student investigation.”

Champion’s email also contained a statement from Lyons.

“I want to take a moment to address some articles you may have seen if you research me and my time as principal of Carmel High School,” Lyons wrote. “There was a question about whether I appropriately notified our superintendent about a student investigation; the concerns were not about the investigation itself. Although I had the firm support of the staff, students and community, it was decided I would not be returning to my current role as principal of CHS.

“I do not want these past few months to be the only view of my success at CHS and other schools I have worked in. My goal is to support and challenge students to be their best, and I take my role as steward very seriously.”

Lyons addressed the Carmel matter during a phone interview conducted in Champion’s office Thursday.

“I did not follow the process the district would have liked me to,” he said. “One event in a career. I’m hoping people will find a little grace.”

Champion said, “There was a bureaucratic piece that did not get done,” adding that the students involved “were well taken care of.”

“Trying to define one person’s long career by one incident is not graceful.”

Cynthia Wright, vice chairwoman of the Medford School District, said she did her own research and felt confident in Champion’s recommendation to hire Lyons.

“They’re not going to hire someone that they don’t have a lot of confidence in,” she said Friday.

“I’m excited for South,” she added. “I think this is an opportunity for us to grow.”

Addressing the issue in the other district, she said, “Kids were taken care of, that was the highest priority.”

“It sounds like the superintendent (in Carmel) felt, ‘This is something that should have been reported.’”

“Everybody agrees the kids were taken care of, but there was a reporting technicality that wasn’t followed.”

Wright said Lyons met with school employees in the last few days.

“He flew up here and spent three days talking to staff members and answering their questions,” she said.

Asked about the letter from the 68 employees who questioned why Lyons was hired, Wright said, “I would say because he has all the qualities we need.”

He has a great track record, she said, adding that principals aren’t a dime a dozen.

“People are struggling to find principals,” she said. “I think we can get past a technicality and not get hung up on this one technicality.

“I felt like, we got kind of lucky.”

The board vote to hire Lyons was unanimous.

“There wasn’t one person on our board who had any objections,” she said.

Wallace was contacted late Friday afternoon at the school, saying he was about 10 minutes from leaving for the summer.

“We appreciated Dr. Champion’s sincerity,” he said. “He apologized sincerely for mistakes that were made in the process. We accept his apology.”

“We as a staff recognize that Jon is our principal. We’ve met him and are excited to be a successful high school with him.”