Marty Stanton, assistant principal at Melrose Veterans Memorial Middle School, has informed the school department that he will be leaving that role before the new school year starts, Superintendent Joe Casey said on Wednesday afternoon.

"Mr. Stanton has informed me that as of the 19th of August he will be stepping down—no reason beyond that is given," Casey said. "We want to thank Marty for all the work he has done. He’s been truly a leader, not only in education, but in his sensitive work with students and families for the betterment of the Melrose Public Schools."

Because Stanton's announcement comes well into the summer, Casey said the district is only advertising for an interim middle school assistant principal. That advertisement posted online yesterday.

"We’ll find somebody to try to help us out over the next year, and then we’ll see where everything goes from there," he said.

This past school year was Stanton's ninth as assistant principal at the middle school. He began teaching in 1974 at the Hoover School and taught in several Melrose elementary schools until the late 90s, when he moved on to teach math at the middle school and then became the assistant principal.