Corey DeHaas has been named principal of North Elementary School.
Monongalia County Board of Education members, acting on the recommendation of Superintendent Eddie Campbell Jr., approved the hiring during Tuesday night’s BOE meeting.
The move turns the page on the latest chapter of a saga at the school on Chestnut Ridge Road that began when two incidents of aggressive disciplining of special-needs students, allegedly at the hands of staff, were reported in February.
That was when an anonymous call from the school came into the district’s central office some two weeks after the first incident, which was said to have occurred Jan. 26.
Another incident dating back to November also came under scrutiny.
While the staffers involved are now facing criminal charges, Natalie Webb, who led the school for 12 years as principal, was also dismissed by the BOE in a closed personnel hearing earlier this month.
Webb, the district said, failed to report the incidents in a proper and timely manner.
However, her attorney countered, his client, who has received state and national accolades for her stewardship of the school, wasn’t present at either incident, both of which were captured on surveillance video.
Nor were the incidents reported to her as principal, whether from the staffers directly involved or anyone else who may have witnessed either one, her attorney said.
She’ll appeal the board’s decision, her attorney said.
Meanwhile, DeHaas, was previously an assistant principal at South Middle School, had been serving North in an interim role as its top administrator since February, when Mon Schools launched its own investigation.
Board members also heard both end-of-the year assessments from the 2022-23 term, to go with an end-of-summer wrap-up leading into the first day of school, which is Aug. 22.
The district, which is known for its range of Advanced Placement courses, closed out the term with 240 students achieving the AP Scholar designation for their high test scores.
Thirty-two such courses, many of which are made possible dollars from the county’s excess levy for education, are currently offered in Mon Schools.
As said, those aren’t the only positive numbers adding up, Susan Taylor told board members Tuesday night.
Taylor, a former teacher and reading specialist who does outside programming for the district, is the coordinator of the district’s sprawling Summer Avalanche enrichment camp, which launched July 5 and concludes Thursday.
A total of 2,300 students enrolled in the program, created in response to the remote learning wrought by the pandemic.
Summer Avalanche offers a diverse range of courses from screenwriting to outdoor survival techniques.
“That’s a record for us,” she said of the number of enrollees.
TWEET@DominionPostWV
