LEWISTON — Linda MacKenzie stepped down Tuesday afternoon as principal of Lewiston High School, Superintendent Bill Webster said.

She remains an employee of the Lewiston School Department, and will be working out of the central office to assess and improve Lewiston’s alternative education program, Webster said.

MacKenzie, who had been principal for 14 months, told a surprised faculty during an after-school meeting.

Webster said MacKenzie made the announcement after completion of an internal survey on the school climate.

“I’ve been working with Linda on assessing the school climate at the high school while we are undergoing proficiency-based learning,” Webster said. When implementing a big change, it’s critical to have the “best environment possible as we move forward,” he said.

Part of that school climate assessment involved interviewing teachers and staff, and an outside coach working with MacKenzie.

When the results were put together, “Linda came to the conclusion she wasn’t the best person to continue leading Lewiston High School,” Webster said. “She agreed to step aside from that position.”

Webster said he brought in a coach to help assess the climate. It’s not the first time an outside coach has been brought to help a new administrator, he said.

“I’m always interested and potentially concerned on school climate issues,” he said. “I don’t attribute those to any one person. Any time you have an important and significant change taking place, it’s real important to keep your fingers on the pulse.”

Webster said MacKenzie’s resignation had nothing to do with a controversial #BlackLivesMatter poster that students last month were told to take down until it had been reviewed. The posters were taken down, then put back up after reviewed by the superintendent.

MacKenzie was leading the implementation of a new, proficiency-based diploma, which state law says current freshmen — the Class of 2018 — must have to graduate.

The goal of proficiency-based education is to ensure that students acquire the knowledge and skills that are deemed to be essential to success in school, higher education, careers and adult life, according to the Maine Department of Education.

The change involves teachers creating new assessment standards in each discipline. That’s worried freshmen parents. Among concerns they’ve voiced have been new ways teachers will grade students.

Another change MacKenzie implemented was creating two new positions of deans of students. The goal was to improve student behavior and reduce the amount of time students spent with assistant principals.

The Lewiston School Committee hired former teachers Jay Dufour and Ronda Fournier as deans, and they started their jobs in February 2014.

In a report to the School Committee in June 2014, MacKenzie said the number of detentions and suspensions were reduced because Dufour and Fournier helped students improve behavior and focus on academics.

Webster said Tuesday that a decision on who will lead the high school will be made soon. For now, the administrative team will run the school.

“I’ll be meeting with administrators first thing (Wednesday). I’m comfortable the staff is capable of continuing the work at Lewiston High School.”

MacKenzie became principal of Lewiston High School on Nov. 12, 2013, replacing Gus LeBlanc, who left to become headmaster at Lee Academy in Lee, Maine.

At the time she was hired, she was principal of Stearns Junior-Senior High School in Millinocket. The former high school science teacher was chosen from 20 candidates.

When she was hired, Webster described her as someone with great education experience and a good fit for the job.

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