SCARBOROUGH – Scarborough High School Principal Dean Auriemma resigned effective “immediately” last Friday, Feb. 1 and several sources say there may be more to the departure than a desire to spend more time with his family, as cited by Auriemma and Superintendent George Entwistle.

Until a replacement is found, the school will be run by a four-person committee led by the school district’s director of curriculum and instruction, Monique Culbertson. Joining Culbertson in administering the school will be assistant principals Ray Dunn and Susan Ketch, along with Athletics Director Mike LeGage.

Auriemma began his tenure as principal in July 2010, under the administration of then-Superintendent David Doyle. Auriemma replaced Patricia Conant, whose contract was not renewed after four years on the job.

On Monday, Auriemma said the decision to quit just shy of his third anniversary at the school was one he’d labored over for “about four months,” ever since he and his wife adopted a pair of 2-year-old siblings from Russia. Auriemma said he also has been distracted lately by the ill heath of his mother, who lives in the Midwest.

That deliberation, he said, ended Jan. 25, when he submitted his letter of resignation.

“Recently, it has become apparent that the balance between what I need to do as a school leader and the responsibilities I have towards my family have been perceived to be in direct conflict,” he wrote.

According to the resignation letter, Auriemma’s intent was to depart at the end of the school year. However, subsequent talks with Entwistle yielded a different result.

In his Friday afternoon announcement to parents, Entwistle said Auriemma “recognized that the demands of the job of high school principal are not compatible with meeting the needs of his family.” As a result, he said, the principal had been reassigned to an unspecified role “performing work that will contribute to important, district-wide, quality improvement initiatives.”

Asked for clarification, Entwistle said via email Monday that Auriemma “will attend to some much needed work that is project-based and essential to moving our district forward, including curriculum development, important new initiatives related to health, safety and security, and data analysis related to student performance.”

On Tuesday, two former students and a parent suggested there were problems with Auriemma.

“I was there as a representative to the school board when he arrived and showed him all around the school,” said Adam Cohen, president of the class of 2012. “We worked together on a lot of things at first, but our relationship deteriorated pretty quickly. The whole school was miserable under him.”

Cohen says he wrote a letter to the school board last fall, after he’d moved on to college, expressing his concerns for a principal who “ruled from a distance.”

“To many students, Mr. Auriemma was nothing more than a voice heard over the intercom or the man who sent emails to their parents,” said Cohen.

Lyn Mistretta, whose son Peter Krahe graduated with Cohen, said she felt “truly bullied” by Auriemma when confronting him about a disciplinary issue involving her son and 14 other students.

“It was over something that had never been an issue before because it was tradition,” said Mistretta. “Naturally, we disagreed, but then he took a step toward me and leaned in and raised his voice.

“His style was to intimidate anyone who disagreed with him,” said Mistretta.

Christine Massengill, chairwoman of the school board, declined to comment, calling the matter a personnel issue outside the board’s purview.

Auriemma’s resignation letter claimed multiple times that he improved the culture of Scarborough High School and increased student involvement.

He also was named the 2012 Principal of the Year by national nonprofit Rachel’s Challenge, for his work helping to facilitate communication of its anti-bullying message in Scarborough.

A search already is under way for a new high school principal, with the goal of having a replacement at the helm by July 1. Entwistle has assigned “primary responsibility” for the search to Pleasant Hill Primary School Principal Kelly Mullen-Martin and Scarborough Middle School Principal Barbara Hathorn.

While the search takes place, the leadership team will run the school, with Culbertson in the forefront.

“While my expectation is that this team will employ a shared leadership model of operating, I am designating Ms. Culbertson as the team leader,” wrote Entwistle. “Other district personnel will be engaged in covering Ms. Culbertson’s most critical job responsibilities related to curriculum and instruction during this time.”

Asked who will fill in for Culbertson, Entwistle said that is yet to be decided, but the job will go to “key, content area experts currently working within the district.”

Auriemma, 45, started as principal July 1, 2010 at an annual salary of $100,000. His resume at the time included 14 years as an art teacher, followed by stints as principal at Minooka Community High School in suburban Chicago and principal of Thornton Fractional South High School, just south of Chicago.

On Monday, Entwistle asked that questions about the administrative restructuring be submitted via email. In reply, he did not provide a figure for Auriemma’s salary, other than to say that, “with a resignation, there is no change to the contract terms.”

The sudden shakeup, he said, was deemed a better choice than simply allowing Auriemma to serve out his time.

“A choice needs to be made related to the leadership required to best sustain the ongoing improvement efforts and initiatives, recognizing that the current leader will be moving on,” he wrote. “[Do we] allow that individual to continue in his role or make an immediate change with a leadership plan that will maintain momentum and minimize the impact of an impending leadership change? Both have benefits and challenges. My central office team, Mr. Auriemma and I decided that our plan serves the best interest of the school, students, and community.”

Auriemma, who lives in South Portland, said he intends to stay in Maine. “This is our home,” he said. However, apart from keeping a hand in various local charities and nonprofits he’s joined over the years, he has no specific plans beyond June 30.

“I know some people will have different opinions,” he said. “I just know that my family is the thing I need to be concerned with the most right now. Being a principal, if you’re doing it correctly, that’s something that goes 24/7. It doesn’t really ever stop.

“That’s why,” he said, “out of respect for the central office staff I work with, the educators I serve, as well as the students, parents and community I have dedicated myself to, I believe it is best for me to step aside.”

Principal Dean Auriemma speaks at Scarborough High School’s 2012 graduation.