Lawrence County School DistrictSuperintendent David Davis testified for about three hours at a dueprocess hearing Monday pertaining to the firing of one of thedistrict’s black principals.

    Dr. Lenard King’s contract for the new school year was not renewedFeb. 24 because of various concerns from teachers and parentsregarding his conduct throughout the 2010-11 school year, accordingto Davis. King has been Rod Paige Middle School principal for sevenyears.

    Davis maintained that also among the reasons for King’s non-renewalwere his hiring of a teacher when no positions were available andspending of funds from a $25,000 donation on asphalt for theschool, both without the approval of Davis.

    When a principal is fired, he or she has the right to a due processhearing that investigates whether or not the school board hasinfringed any basic rights. King and his attorney, Lisa Ross ofJackson, uphold that his rights were violated.

    “Dr. King was not even given an opportunity to respond when[parents and teachers] had issues,” Ross said.

    Ross also explained that, according to school board policy,teachers and parents are required to bring their complaints to theprincipal of the school first – even if that complaint is about theprincipal – before being taken to the superintendent.

    “They weren’t required to do that,” Ross said. “It violated schoolboard policy” when teachers and parents bypassed King and tooktheir grievances directly to Davis.

    Furthermore, King argued that he never knew about any of thecomplaints until after his non-renewal was put into effect.

    “After non-renewal, [Davis] included the correspondence fromparents and cited them as documents of what Dr. King had done,”Ross said. “But he never gave Dr. King the correspondence so thathe could address those complaints as they were coming in. He didn’timmediately let Dr. King know.”

    Davis said he believed Dr. King had time to respond. He alsobelieved the teachers did not violate school policy when they cameto him.

    “I don’t see these as official complaints, but more of concerns,”Davis said. “I think teachers felt it was becoming futile to go toDr. King if they had something worrying them.”

    Davis testified from letters and e-mails that King exhibitedinappropriate behaviors like disrupting classes, shouting down thehalls, berating teachers in front of students and spending fundswithout the administration’s knowledge.

    While Ross and King maintain that King was given no chance torespond to complaints about his behavior, Davis raised a differentviewpoint on the impaired communication.

    Davis testified that he wrote a letter to King outlining whatbehaviors he needed to refrain from. These included not questioningthe loyalty of teachers to King or the school, not chastisingteachers in front of students and not disrupting teachers when theyare trying to teach.

    “I remember no response [to that letter],” Davis said. “And Dr.King could have spoken with me at any time. He could have called.He could have e-mailed.”

    Davis also testified that there was no response from King to ane-mail about the expenditure of the $25,000 donation.

    Race is another aspect of the unrest between King and the schooldistrict, Ross contended.

    “A lot of it is that his contention is race-based,” Ross said. “Thecomplaints about Dr. King are overwhelmingly from white parents andteachers.”

    King was the only African American principal in the schooldistrict.

    Davis denied any racial motivations behind the firing.

    “Dr. King had made poor decisions, and I felt that his time at theschool district was up and the non-renewal was necessary,” Davissaid.

    About minority hiring in general, Davis said that if qualifiedminority candidates are available, it is his opinion that thedistrict do their best to hire them.

    Documents, letters and e-mails were among the pieces added toevidence at the hearing. The hearing is set to continue July 21 at9 a.m. at the Lawrence County School Board Room in Monticello.