Ringstaff Dismissed As Reidland Principal: A Position Was Created at the McCracken Schools Central Office for the Former High School Official.

By Brian Peach Copyright 2007,, The Paducah Sun, Ky.

Jan. 3–Glen Ringstaff will not return to Reidland High School today following his Friday removal as principal for failing to meet expectations set before him several months ago.

“What the superintendent believes is that I have lost support in the community,” Ringstaff said Tuesday.

Ringstaff said he spoke last summer with Superintendent Tim Heller about the school, its image and limiting negative publicity.

“We had actually been having some dialogue in July. He had given me a period of time to improve the climate at the school,” Ringstaff said. “Anything that reflects negatively on the school reflects negatively on me.”

Ringstaff said he will report to the McCracken School District’s central office today, but he didn’t know what his job would be. Heller said Tuesday that Ringstaff will be reassigned to work as alternative education coordinator. The new position was created by the school board and Ringstaff’s appointment is only for the spring semester. He will work under Charles Courtney, director of pupil personnel.

Heller kept most other comments to a minimum, calling it a personnel issue.

Heller said he will speak with teachers and staff at Reidland High School this morning. He is still working on naming an interim principal. The principal’s position is expected to be posted in February. Dale Croft is the current assistant principal at the school.

Heller said he wants to encourage the teachers to continue the “good job they’re doing.”

Controversial issues involving the school last year resulted in a number of unflattering news stories.

In April, Ringstaff did not allow 15-year-old Rickey Lee Baez to attend the school’s prom with his girlfriend, Leila Stout, a senior at Reidland. Not enough information was available on Baez to do a thorough background check, Ringstaff said, and his decision was made in part to keep the school’s dances safe. Stout’s mother filed a lawsuit to stop the decision. Ringstaff then allowed another home-schooled student to attend the dance with her boyfriend, Cody Hayden, who was then senior at the school.

The school also appeared in the national spotlight — the “Dr. Phil” show last month as well as media reports since last spring — following Heller’s suspension-with-pay of science teacher Tericka Dye, who admitted to appearing in adult films 11 years earlier under the name Rikki Andersin. Dye has said that she was living in California at the time and needed money. Dye’s contract wasn’t renewed for the 2006-07 year, but she reapplied for the job last month.

Then, before winter break, eight Reidland students were sent home for being disruptive during an assembly. Ringstaff said they were screaming and yelling at inappropriate times.

The school also has struggled with its scores on the Commonwealth Accountability Testing System, and it did not meet its goal during the last testing cycle, causing the state to give Reidland the unflattering label of being a “progressing school.” McCracken County Schools responded by hiring retired educator Linda Wyatt to craft curriculum and work with teachers to improve instruction.

Ringstaff wouldn’t say specifically what his talks with Heller last summer or Friday consisted of.

McCracken County Board Chairman Neil Archer said the board generally doesn’t discuss hirings and firings at the level of principal or below. But, for instance, “If we don’t like the job the superintendent’s doing, we can work on that.”

“The things you (the board) talk about are the things that, number one, affect the school,” Archer said. “The testing, attendance, disciplinary problems, facility problems. When you get over that, the superintendent is the one responsible.”

He said the board has discussed test scores among other issues at Reidland. “There has been several conversations over issues that come out of there. Attendance, populations, testing. Those things always concern the board.”

Archer said there are many qualified administrators in the school district who could step into the principal role at Reidland, but he said he hadn’t spoken to Heller about it and couldn’t speculate on who a permanent replacement might be.

Ringstaff said Tuesday that he didn’t know what he would do in the near future, or whether he would look for another job or try to stay in the area.

“Right now, it’s all really surreal,” he said. “I’ll have some time to weigh out my options and make good decisions for myself and my family.



Sun staff writer Leigh Landini Wright contributed to this story.

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Copyright (c) 2007, The Paducah Sun, Ky.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.

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