WINFIELD - Members of the Putnam County Board of Education voted Monday to suspend Bradley Knell, the former Poca High principal who was charged with driving under the influence last month - just days after the board voted to rehire him as a teacher.
The five-member board voted unanimously Monday to ratify the suspension of Knell - without pay - and to terminate a probationary employment contract Knell had entered with the school system.
Knell was principal at Poca High School when he was arrested in September 2016 and charged with two counts of felony computer fraud after allegedly using a debit card linked to the school's basketball boosters. He was suspended from his position in October 2016 and resigned the following February.
The charges were reduced to a misdemeanor obtaining by false pretenses charge in April, according to court records. He pleaded guilty in July and was ordered to pay $660.25 in court costs and restitution by January 2018.
The board voted during its Aug. 28 meeting to rehire Knell as a teacher at Buffalo High School.
Later that week, deputies responded to a call for a man reportedly passed out behind the wheel of a Toyota 4-Runner in the drive-through lane of a bank in Nitro. According to a previous Gazette-Mail report, the deputy found the vehicle and noted that the engine was running and in drive, with Knell in the driver's seat.
Knell had a "strong odor of alcoholic beverage coming from his facial area," according to a statement from the sheriff's office. He also appeared to have urinated on himself, deputies wrote.
Knell told the deputy that he'd "drank two beers," when asked if he was under the influence of anything, deputies wrote.
His blood alcohol content was later recorded as .088. The legal limit is .08.
Stephanie Butcher, a Putnam County resident and secretary of the state Home Educators Association, spoke to the board Monday to address the members about comments made at the Sept. 5 meeting about homeschooling in the county.
After the Sept. 5 meeting, schools superintendent John Hudson said parents who wish to home-school their child are required to complete an application, which is reviewed and approved by the district attendance director, according to a previous Gazette-Mail report.
Butcher spoke at the meeting Monday, noting that parents do not need permission and are not required to apply to educate their children at home.
She also discussed several concerns she has about the school system - including the "easily avoidable" incident involving Knell.
"The district has numerous problems that include, but are not limited to, low student achievement, high absenteeism rates in both teachers and students, addiction, bullying, embezzlement and a variety of other social ails and crimes among students and district employees alike," she told board members.
"As a taxpayer, I demand you focus more attention on sound hiring practices. ... The 'good ol' boy' network needs to finally be abolished. Students attending Putnam County Schools must always be your top consideration."
Butcher called for better hiring practices including more thoroughly vetting employees, nationwide searches for administrators and forming hiring committees with an array of members.
"Everyone makes mistakes, but clearly this person needs treatment, and should not have been placed in authority over students," she said. "I keep hoping to get better candidates to run for school board. I realize that you all think you're doing a great job, but some of you have been on this board for so many years."
In a brief argument, board member Robert Cunningham told Butcher before the meeting adjourned that he was offended by her comments made about the board's hiring decisions.
"I have three children in this school system and I take it personally that you made a jab at us, that maybe we are doing something as the good ol' boys," he said. "When we hire someone, we hire them, we follow Policy 5000 explicitly. That is a lot of the reason why we hire a lot of the people we do."
Also at the meeting Monday, the board voted to approve Hudson's list of goals for the 2017-18 school year.
After the meeting, Hudson said his goals included overall improvement of achievement in county schools, targeting improvement in low-performing schools, forming collaborative teams for teachers to help improve learning and making continued steps toward improving fiscal responsibility in the district.
The next regularly scheduled Board of Education meeting is set for 7 p.m. Oct. 2.
According to online board documents there will be a special meeting at 6:30 p.m. tonight to "conduct a personnel hearing and act on the superintendent's recommendation to suspend and/or terminate an employee for cause."
Reach Carlee Lammers at carlee.lammers@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1230 or follow @CarleeLammers on Twitter.