Prairie Grove middle school principal, superintendent to leave over purported shooting video
PRAIRIE GROVE - A video made depicting the deaths of children from a school shooting at Prairie Grove Middle School has angered parents and teachers in the district who packed a special school board meeting Friday night.
Shayne Taylor, the middle school principal, allegedly showed the video about a fictional shooting to teachers Wednesday, according to reports.
The school board went into executive session for about 10 minutes Friday evening, then reconvened and announced that Taylor had been granted a leave of absence until his retirement on June 30, 2023. He will receive pay from personal vacation and sick days. People in the audience shouted and cheered during the meeting.
During the heated meeting, people in the audience shouted, "What about the other people who did it?" and "Do you not want to listen to your teachers? You've got hundreds of teachers." And, "Wait until election day people!" as the board members walked into executive session.
The meeting can be viewed on Youtube.
The board also announced that Reba Holmes, superintendent, will also take a leave of absence until retirement on June 30, 2023, receiving pay from her vacation and sick days.
Pete Joenks, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction, will take over as interim superintendent, the board announced.
A sixth-grade teacher said Taylor showed a video that played somber music that depicted the killing of teacher's children with their names stating that they had been killed in a Dec. 14, 2022, according to 40/29 TV reports.
This article originally appeared on Fort Smith Times Record: Prairie Grove school superintendent, middle school principal on leave
