Oakhurst Elementary Principal Robin Fountain received “a loving sendoff” when she left Clairemont Elementary. Photo obtained via City Schools of Decatur’s Facebook page.

Oakhurst Elementary Principal Robin Fountain is leaving City Schools of Decatur to take a job in Charleston, S.C.

Fountain made the announcement in an email to parents at the school.

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“It is with a heavy heart that I share with you that I will not be returning next school year,” she wrote. “Please be assured that I was not looking for a change from Oakhurst Elementary or the City Schools of Decatur.”

Fountain said she is moving to Charleston because she lived there for many years prior to moving to Decatur. “My heart has always felt that eventually, I would move back to the low country,” she wrote.

Before becoming principal at Oakhurst Elementary in 2013, Fountain was an instructional coach at Clairemont Elementary.

In a follow-up email to parents, Superintendent David Dude said he will appoint an interim principal while CSD searches for a new principal. In the email, he called Fountain’s departure a “profound loss … to the Oakhurst community.”

“Given that it is June, there is not sufficient time to conduct the robust search process needed for a position of this magnitude, nor is it likely that there would be sufficient numbers of highly qualified candidates able to obtain a release from their contracts at this time,” Dude wrote. “Therefore, I plan to name an interim principal to get us through the 2017-18 school year. This will allow us to maintain the great things happening at Oakhurst while allowing time to conduct a proper search. Such a search needs to begin relatively early in the school year (perhaps November or December, before potential candidates sign contracts for the coming school year) and include appropriate involvement of SLT, staff, parents and the district. I am vetting several options for interim principals and will be following up soon with a decision in that regard.”