Jun. 29—MOULTON — The Lawrence County School Board terminated the contract of the Hazlewood Elementary principal and accepted the resignation of the Lawrence County High principal at its board meeting Monday night.

The board voted 4-1 to end the $91,800 annual contract with Hazlewood Elementary School Principal Datie Priest, who had been on administrative leave since March because of allegations of excessive paddling of a third grader and disagreements with staff members.

In a separate vote, the board voted 4-1 to place interim Hazlewood Principal Chris Lewis in the job on a full-time basis. Superintendent Jon Bret Smith said Lewis' annual salary will be $87,000. The changes go into effect Friday.

District 1 school board member Christine Garner voted against Priest's termination and the hiring of Lewis.

"I'm not against hiring (Lewis)," she said. "I don't even know him, but her experience and her knowledge of the job is much more than his."

Garner declined to comment on the paddling allegations but said she thought Priest was doing a good job at the school.

"The biggest thing I've heard against her is that she didn't get along with her staff," Garner said. "She didn't go there to get along with them. She went there to make sure they were doing their job. As long as she was doing her job as principal and making that school better, I don't have a problem with that. I don't think she was flailing and fussing every day. She was telling them how to do their job better, and I don't know why her contract needed to be terminated."

Smith said Priest's two-year contract was up, and he recommended that the board not renew it.

"It's a personnel matter, and I'm not at liberty to discuss it. We want to do what's best to provide the best education for our students in this county," he said Tuesday.

Before working for Lawrence County Schools, Priest worked 20 years with Decatur City Schools and served as principal at West Decatur Elementary from 2005 to 2016, when then-Superintendent Dan Brigman transferred her to principal of special services. Her contract was non-renewed in March 2020, according to Decatur City Schools records.

She left as a teacher at DCS's Center for Alternative Programs in July 2020, when she was named principal at Hazlewood Elementary in Town Creek.

Smith said Lewis will do well in the Hazlewood position.

"He's done a great job at R.A. Hubbard and at Hazlewood Elementary. His presence at Hazlewood makes him a natural leader for that position," Smith said. "He's had good reports from the staff and we're excited about him being there."

Lewis was assistant principal, special education teacher and boys basketball coach at R.A. Hubbard before he moved to the interim principal position at Hazlewood in March.

Garner said she is mystified about Smith's dealings with the Black principals in District 1.

On Feb. 16, R.A. Hubbard Principal Rosa Allen-Cooper was placed on "detached duty" away from the school while the school board's attorneys directed a private investigation at the school. Allen-Cooper was reinstated as principal on March 1. She later agreed to surrender her principal job paying $99,715 to become the transitional liaison for about $10,000 less, effective Thursday. She will help oversee the transition of students from the now-closed R.A. Hubbard School to Hatton High School, East Lawrence Middle and East Lawrence High.

Garner said board members have been told nothing about the results of the investigation and she is bothered by Smith's lack of transparency.

"I'm like a dog with a bone, I'm not giving it up. I want to know more," she said. "Half of the time, (the board is) not involved. We've not been given a real reason. We have not been given a reason for the actions with Rosa Allen-Cooper. ...

"They supposedly did an investigation and they still haven't told us anything, but we're supposed to vote on it. If I don't agree with it, I can't vote for it. Most of the time we're in the dark on these issues."

School board attorney Christopher Pape of Huntsville said the findings of the investigation are "privileged information" and will not be released to the public.

Lawrence County High

Lawrence County High Principal Thomas Jones, who was earning $109,000 annually, resigned after being named principal at Columbia High in Huntsville about two weeks ago. Smith said the district has been accepting applications for the Lawrence County High vacancy and a new principal candidate should be on the agenda of the July 14 board meeting, at 6 p.m., for approval.

"It's going to be hard to replace anybody who has been in our system as long as he has," Smith said about Jones. "We wish him luck working with Huntsville City Schools."

Other actions

In other certified personnel transactions on Monday night, the board:

—Accepted the resignations of Drew Bailey, band director/music teacher at Hatton High; John Johnson, agriscience teacher at Lawrence County High; Jacob Hamilton, physical education teacher at Hazlewood Elementary; Jessica Widner, elementary teacher at Moulton Middle; Courtney Adcock and Alexandra Kane, special education teachers; Kaci McAfee, speech and language teacher; and Katelyn Ray, elementary teacher at Moulton Elementary.

—Hired Victoria Mayes, Amanda Black, Stacey Hall, teachers at Moulton Middle; Carly Peters, Charles Thompson, social science teachers at East Lawrence High; Anna Hodges, English teacher at East Lawrence High; Nicholas Phillips, science teacher at East Lawrence High; Natalie Hyde, physical education teacher at Moulton Middle; Sandra Warren, elementary teacher, Moulton Elementary; Amber Scaletti, special education teacher based at Moulton Elementary; Wes Chamness, social science teacher, Hatton High; Anthony Oliver, science teacher, Moulton Middle; Lathan Strong, assistant principal at Hatton High; Tameka Armstead, special education teacher based at Hazlewood Elementary; and Rebecca Lovette, William Wortham, Autumn McGee, elementary teachers at Hazlewood Elementary.

—Transferred Kellier Bowerman, elementary teacher to instructional coach at Moulton Middle; Miranda Stephens, librarian to science teacher at Hatton High; Sally Cross from middle school teacher to elementary teacher/high dosage tutor at Moulton Middle; Petrina Boling-Davis, elementary teacher to elementary teacher/high dosage tutor at Hazlewood Elementary; Dona Gray, elementary teacher at East Lawrence Elementary to English/language arts/high dosage tutor at East Lawrence Middle; Molly Chapman from Hatton Elementary teacher to English teacher at Hatton High; Amy Speegle from librarian at Hatton Elementary to librarian at Hattno High; Amelia Elrod, elementary teacher/high dosage tutor at East Lawrence Middle Schools to countywide special education teacher based at Moulton Elementary; Eric Craig Flanigan, physical education teacher at Lawrence County High to physical education teacher at Hazlewood Elementary; Cody Taylor, physical education teacher at Moulton Middle to physical education teacher at Lawrence County High; Nicholas Siegel, social science teacher at Hatton High to physical education teacher at Moulton Middle; and Keane Biggs, music teacher/band director at Hazlewood Elementary/East Lawrence Middle to music teacher/band director at Hatton High.

— mike.wetzel@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2442. Twitter @DD_Wetzel.