Board accepts resignation of Rochester Intermediate School principal

The Rochester Board of Education accepted the resignation of Rochester Intermediate School principal Joe Viola during a special meeting at the district office on Tuesday morning.

Viola, 36, had been principal of the school since 2016.

In a phone interview Tuesday afternoon, school superintendent Lance Thurman confirmed that Viola had been off the job the last two weeks while the district conducted an investigation.

The investigation, Thurman said, centered around "a board policy violation."

Thurman said that Viola was on paid leave for those two weeks.

The board of education's vote to accept Viola's resignation was unanimous, Thurman added.

Citing a “personnel matter” and “legal reasons,” Thurman, in a letter sent to parents later Tuesday morning, said he was unable to share additional details.

Kathleen Sanders, who Viola replaced in 2016, will be the interim principal through the rest of the school year.

According to the letter, Sanders is expected to start Friday.

She served as principal of the intermediate school from 2012 to 2016, when she retired.

Sanders was the Springfield district’s director of standards and assessments before being named principal in Rochester, according to Bree Hankins, a spokeswoman for District 186.

Sanders was with the district for 23 years, 11 years as a principal, including at Jefferson Middle School, according to a 2012 State Journal-Register article.

Before coming to Rochester, Viola had served for five years as principal of Ball Elementary School in Chatham.

He was also an assistant principal at Glenwood Middle School.

Viola taught social studies for three years at Edison High School in Pekin.

Viola earned his master’s degree in educational leadership from Bradley University and his bachelor’s degree in history education from Illinois Wesleyan University.

“We're looking forward to working with Kathleen Sanders at (Rochester Intermediate School),” Thurman said. "She has a lengthy pedigree at District 186."

The Rochester district, Thurman said, will begin a process soon to look at a full-time replacement by July 1.

The intermediate school serves students in grades four to six and has 550 students.

Contact Steven Spearie: 788-1524, sspearie@sj-r.com, twitter.com/stevenspearie.