North Elementary School’s principal and vice principal have been placed on leaves of absence “due to an incident that remains under investigation,” Mon Schools Superintendent Eddie Campbell Jr. said Friday.
“That’s really all I can tell you right now, out of respect of privacy to the parties involved,” Campbell said by telephone from Charleston, where he was attending a school superintendent’s meeting as part of this year’s legislative session.
Natalie Webb and Carol Muniz are principal and vice principal of the school on Chestnut Ridge Road.
Campbell made the announcement Tuesday in a letter that went out to the North community. The Dominion Post obtained a copy of the letter Thursday evening.
Corey DeHaas, a vice principal at South Middle School, is now serving as North’s interim principal, Campbell said.
Filling in as vice principal is Katherine Sherald, who currently holds that post at Westwood Middle.
DeHaas and Sherald will remain at North “until further notice,” Campbell wrote in the letter.
“It is understandable that this may be a difficult time for students, parents and staff,” the superintendent continued in the letter.
“We want to assure you that we are committed to maintaining a positive and supportive learning environment for our students,” he stated further.
“Both of North’s interim principals and Monongalia County Schools’ administration will do everything possible to ensure education is not disrupted during the transition.”
The school has an enrollment of 676 students in pre-kindergarten through 5th grade.
North also has a national reputation for the agriculture studies it incorporates into its day-to-day activity.
An interlocking vegetable garden encompasses about an acre on North’s campus.
Student-grown crops often end up on the lunch menu.
Teachers use the garden to harvest lesson plans on everything from photosynthesis to colonial history.
Ten years ago, Webb and a group of students from North traveled to the White House to chop carrots and make turkey wraps with then-First Lady Michelle Obama, who invited them.
TWEET @DominionPostWV
