Xavier High School hires new principal after former leader was investigated and fired

APPLETON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Xavier High School has officially appointed a new principal.

It comes more than five months after the school’s previous principal was fired following an investigation that revealed he had exchanged hundreds of emails and text messages with a female student.

On Tuesday, the Xavier Catholic School System announced they’ve hired William Welch to serve as high school principal. He has nine years of experience as a teacher, learning coach, athletic coach and school leader and is currently serving as the associate principal of a middle/high school near Lake Geneva.

“[Welch] is a servant leader with a deep Catholic faith who strives to help youth develop a personal relationship with Jesus. Xavier will benefit from his experiences and expertise in collaborative teamwork, restorative practices, relationship-building, career and technical education, work-based learning, continuous improvement, data-focused learning, and collective ownership and responsibility for the learning success of all students,” a news release states.

Mr. Welch shares a deep understanding of the role faith plays in Catholic education, and we are excited about the future of Xavier High School and the positive impact he will have on students, families, faculty, and staff.

Welch’s hiring is the latest event in a series of shake-ups in the St. Francis Xavier Catholic School System’s upper echelon.

In mid-November 2024, Mike Mauthe was terminated from his job as Xavier High School principal following an investigation by the Green Bay Diocese Safe Environment Office, which was launched after it received a complaint against Mauthe.

Authorities reviewed hundreds of emails sent from Mauthe’s school account in May of last year to a female who was a high school senior at the time. The female graduated from Xavier in the spring of 2024, but the communication continued via text messaging while she was at college.

The female told police their relationship was never physical or sexual in nature, Mauthe never asked for anything sexual and the two never exchanged any pictures.

The Appleton Police Department said no charges being filed against Mauthe.

Shortly after Mauthe’s firing, Xavier Catholic School System superintendent, John Ravizza, was also terminated. A statement from school officials said Razza was “identified as having violated policy by failing to meet reporting requirements in connection with the ongoing investigation of Mr. Mike Mauthe.”

In early December, Katie Heim, who was serving as the system’s interim president under a temporary contract, announced she would resign early from her role, amid controversy over the firings of the principal and superintendent.

One day after Heim’s resignation, a member of the St. Francis Xavier School System’s Board of Trustees also resigned.

will officially start as president July 1.

It’s the same day that Terry Tyrrell, who was hired in late January, will begin his role as president of Xavier Catholic Schools.

Xavier High School hires new principal after former leader was investigated and fired

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