After a bizarre series of events that led to his arrest for assault on a student, Williamson County Schools Superintendent Mike Looney has retained attorney Mark Puryear of the Franklin, Tennessee law firm Puryear, Newman and Morton to defend him against the simple assault charge he faces for allegedly accosting a student and forcing her into his personal vehicle – a Class A Misdemeanor.
Originally, Looney was booked and released after posting a $1,500 bond, and instructed by the court to return March 8 at 1pm to begin his trail. That date has now been rescheduled for March 27, the Williamson Herald reports.
After news of the incident became known, Looney issued a statement denying the charge, stating, in part:
I apologize to the community for the distraction that this accusation has caused. I completely deny the allegations and have faith that the legal process will result in a positive resolution.
Looney’s arrest has sparked concern with area parents, who have called for his ouster. However, after a carefully choreographed public meeting recently, the Williamson County School Board affirmed their support of the embattled superintendent, reading detailed a joint statement to the packed room of citizens, which said, in part:
Based on the information we have been provided, it appears that Dr. Looney did not act inappropriately and was within the discretion of an administrator in an effort to defuse a difficult situation, in the interest of student safety, and we believe that his continuing in his work will not interfere with any investigation. Based on all the information available to the Board at this time and in honoring our HR Department’s process, we cannot at this time justify asking Dr. Looney to take a leave of absence pending this criminal charge. We believe that has continued presence as Superintendent at this time is in the best interest of WCS students. We fully recognize that the public has not had access to all the information available to the Board and might come to a different conclusion based on what they have heard, but we must base our decisions on the information available to us at the time decisions are made. Based on information available to us, we continue to place our confidence in Dr. Looney’s leadership in our School District. We look forward to the legal process continuing.
I agree with the statement that “the board has bungled this with advesarial arrogance”…..As a former educator I can clearly tell you that Looney clearly broke protocol on profession/parental involvement. As an education…. first involve all options… (first level is teacher). Second, include the parent; by involving the parent we include them by embracing the parental knowledge available and involve a reliable source. Third level, involve the psychological/ guidance resources. By involving and employing this level, we are tapping into invaluable resources for this occasion.
What’s disturbing is that all these adult professionals (many hired by Looney) had this situation in hand, simply by knowing this protocol….. Unfortunately, Looney operated under the mentality of “rules don’t apply to me.” He just jumped in the conference room and overrode all the rules that were in place (by him..)
While I’m not an ardent supporter of his, isn’t he innocent UNTIL proven guilty? Let the investigation continue, we’ve only heard one side of the story so far. He has done a pretty good job up to now. Why not let him keep working, It is more disruptive to change the captain of a ship when it may not be necessary plus whe’re paying him anyway. Give the man his due process. If it comes out he wrong, then fire him. Remember, there’s three sides to every story.
Why hasn’t he been suspended? If a teacher were accused of this they would have been suspended and mostly likely fired. Just another example like Megan Barry and Rob Forest that those in power are not held to the same standard as we subjects are. In fact, they should be held to a higher standard because of their position of authority. This stinks.
Apparently there is evidence that is not being released to the media nor publicly. I don’t think the board would vote ‘unanimously’ not to suspend if not.
The board is playing games with you. Based on what is coming out from those at the school, they could have defused this quickly but they’d rather work everyone up and then hit them with some ‘reasonable’ explanation to defend their investment in the superintendent. Parents come way down the list.
There is no excuse for a board to take an adversarial stance with parents.
Regardless of what happens with the superintendent’s criminal charge, the board has bungled this with adversarial arrogance. There has been a way all along to inform parents without violating privacy regulations.