Board upholds principal’s firing

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Incident involved banking transaction

By MELISSA M. SCALLAN

mmscallan@sunherald.com

The Moss Point School Board upheld the district’s decision to fire a former elementary school principal, officials announced Friday.

The board met Thursday night to review evidence presented over three days, one in July and two in September, and said the district made the right decision in firing Tonya Jackson-Hall, who was the principal at Kreole Elementary.

“The board unanimously supports the superintendent’s termination actions based on the evidence,” board President Charles Wesley said in a statement. “As board members, we are committed to serving Moss Point students, parents and employees to help provide a quality education for our students.”

Superintendent Kim Staley fired Hall in June for an incident involving a banking transaction at the school, Jackson attorney Jim Keith said earlier this week. Keith represented the district in this matter.

Keith also said that during the hearing, Hall testified that she was fired because she rebuffed sexual advances by Staley. Hall made the claims of sexual harassment after she was fired.

The board said that Hall “wrongfully misrepresented facts to the administration concerning circumstances surrounding an expenditure of PTO funds and neglected duties of the Kreole Elementary School principalship.”