Investigation of new Henry Clay principal came back ‘clean,’ Fayette superintendent says

Henry Clay High School’s new principal Corye Franklin, who was previously under investigation in his former school district, “came back whistle clean” when Fayette Superintendent Demetrus Liggins looked into his background, he said Tuesday.

At Franklin’s previous district in Indianapolis, Liggins told the Herald-Leader there was a “policy that there was a disagreement on and ultimately the policy that was broken ended up being removed anyway.”

“His stance was right,” Liggins said of Franklin. Franklin was placed back into a leadership role in Indianapolis before resigning in December.

Under a new Kentucky law, school based councils recommend their top two candidates for principal and the superintendent makes the final selection, Liggins said.

Franklin was one of the top two principal candidates for the Henry Clay position. Liggins said he did not ask the council how they ranked each of the finalists.

Liggins said he was limited to what he could say about a personnel issue, but said he conducted a thorough background investigation to make sure Franklin could lead.

“He came back whistle clean,” he said.

Liggins said the policy issue that resulted in an administrative leave for Franklin, the former principal of Indianapolis’ largest public high school Arsenal Tech, was no longer even an existing policy in the Indianapolis district.

He said the administrative leave had nothing to do with students.

The Indianapolis school district superintendent who placed Franklin on leave gave him “a stellar recommendation,” written and orally, Liggins said, and regretted placing him on leave.

Indianapolis school officials did not immediately comment to the Herald-Leader Tuesday.

Indianapolis Public Schools General Counsel Ken Pack told an Indianapolis television station that Franklin wasn’t disciplined and that the allegations, which he declined to discuss, were dismissed after an investigation, WRTV reported. Franklin resigned in December.

Liggins said Franklin would take Henry Clay High School to “new heights.”