“They came to him and said you’re going to have to resign, or we’re going to have to fire you and we’re going to criminally prosecute you for removing these absences from the rolls,” said Eric Artrip, Former Hazel Green High School Principal attorney.
HAZEL GREEN, AL (WAFF) – We’re learning more about the former Hazel Green High School principal Darrell Long who now says he wants his job back.
This after he abruptly resigned a week after school started for what was cited then as personal and family reasons.
We spoke with Long’s lawyer, who tells us, he thinks Long deserves his job back or at least be paid the remaining two years of his contract. His lawyer is claiming he was forced out of his school.
“They came to him and said you’re going to have to resign, or we’re going to have to fire you and we’re going to criminally prosecute you for removing these absences from the rolls,” said Eric Artrip, Former Hazel Green High School Principal attorney.
Twenty-four hours, that’s all Long had to make a decision on giving up his job. His attorney Eric Artrip says the superintendent threatened him with a resignation or a lawsuit.
“He didn’t really know what the law was and he felt like at some point he should avoid criminal prosecution and go ahead and resign,” said Artrip
Artrip says the school board conducted an investigation, yet would not disclose the information used in the investigation.
He says they have no information on what kind of investigation was done, what sources were interviewed and what information was gathered.
“He’s supposed to have an opportunity to hear the evidence presented against him and make a decision based on that. Whether to resign or continue to fight it and continue in his position,” said Artrip.
Artrip says he contacted the school board, but no one has tried to contact him or Long in any way.
He says Long was removing students from the rolls from the last day they were there and not counting absences from the time they decided to stop coming to school.
We reached out to Superintendent Matt Massey, to see what he has to say.
He wasn’t available to speak with us but we’ll keep trying because there are many questions here that haven’t been answered.
