A student protest at Greenwood High School disrupted classes after word got out that one of its principals was apparently being let go.
Approximately 100 of the school’s 730 students refused to return to class Thursday following their lunch period in protest over the rumored decision of the city school board to not renew the contract of Percy Powell, principal of the 11th and 12th grades.
According to a post on the district’s Facebook page, high school “administrators, teachers, staff, and Central Office personnel were on hand to usher the students to class.”
Greenwood Superintendent Montrell Greene would neither confirm nor deny that Powell was being terminated at the end of the current school year, saying he was unable to comment on personnel matters.
The city school board, though, voted to renew the contracts of principals and assistant superintendents at its Feb. 13 board meeting. Powell was the only district principal not among those offered a contract.
Powell was in a meeting this morning and could not be reached for comment.
Greene said administrators from the school and the district’s central office met with students involved in the demonstration and urged them to return to class.
He added that students were made aware of the district’s policy on demonstrations and strikes, which provides for suspensions for students organizing or participating in protests which disrupt classes.
“No one has been suspended,” Greene said. “I’m looking to the principals at the school to complete their investigation, to maintain order at the school and make sure instruction is taking place.”
A hastily circulated petition in support of Powell said he’d “been like a father figure to a lot of students here at Greenwood High School.”
The petition, which called on the district to bring Powell back for next year, had collected 321 signatures of apparent students by mid-afternoon Thursday.
Powell taught in the district and served as principal of Threadgill Elementary before being named principal of the high school in 2006. He served as the sole principal at the school until last August, when the district decided to switch to a co-principal system for the current school year.
Powell was made responsible for the 11th and 12th grades. Dr. Lorita Harris, who had served as director of operations in the district’s central office and was previously the principal of the middle school, was made principal for the ninth and 10th grades. Harris was among those offered a contract for next year.
Last August, Greene said the decision to go to co-principals at the school was made in response to slumping test scores at the high school. It is currently rated an “F” on the state’s accountability model.
Greene said this morning that those academic struggles have continued into this year. He said the high school still had more than 40 seniors, of a class of approximately 160, who have yet to pass all the state tests required to graduate.
“We have some major academic issues at the high school,” Greene said. “That should be a priority, and not who’ll be the administrators of the school next year.”
Greene said he told students that their voice and opinion are important, but said students needed to stay focused primarily on their studies.
Greene wouldn’t comment on whether the district would continue with co-principals or return to a single top administrator at the school. In a school board meeting last month, an informal discussion between Greene and some board members indicated the district was leaning toward going back to a single principal at the school.
Greene said he held a meeting for high school parents and guardians in the school auditorium this morning at 7:30 a.m. A second meeting was scheduled for 2 p.m. today.
The meetings were announced on the district’s Facebook page as well as through the district’s telephone messaging system.
nContact Bryn Stole at 581-7235 or bstole@gwcommonwealth.com
