President leaves SVHS after hiring of principal

The changes at St. Vincent de Paul schools continued last week with the departure of President Tom Coughlan. He had been in the position only since April.

Coughlan was the first president in the 100-year history of St. Vincent de Paul schools, bringing the high school and elementary school in line with other Catholic school models around the country which have administrative duties handled by a president while day-to-day school activities are overseen by principals. Last week, Patrick Daly assumed duties as principal of the high school.

St. Vincent de Paul pastor Fr. William Donahue said in a written statement that Coughlan was stepping down “for personal reasons.”

Fr. Donahue praised Coughlan for helping lead St. Vincent’s schools during their transition between leadership administrations.

“Mr. Coughlan lent a strong and skillful hand at a time when we were looking for decisive leadership at both the elementary and high schools,” Fr. Donahue wrote in a prepared statement. “With Mr. Coughlan’s help, we were able to secure the financial stability of the schools while putting into place new programs, notably our new junior high. He helped us achieve our goal to hire a new principal for the high school and co-principals for the elementary schools months ahead of schedule.

“Whatever success we have going forward will be in no small part due to Mr. Coughlan’s skillful positioning of our schools for renewal and growth. He did this while representing our schools in the most positive, graceful and effective way. I am most grateful.”