Former superintendent of 2 KY districts arrested in Florida on domestic violence charge

The former superintendent of two Kentucky school districts has been arrested in Florida, NBC News 2 in Southwest Florida reported.

Joshua Powell, 45, of East Naples, Florida had been arrested after allegedly strangling his wife in front of two young children in April, according to an affidavit for a criminal offense in online court records.

Powell pleaded not guilty to a charge of domestic battery by strangulation, Collier County, Florida court records said. An attorney representing Powell was not in his office Wednesday afternoon.

Powell had formerly been superintendent of the Union County and Montgomery County school districts.

Powell’s wife said in a sworn statement in online court records that “he wrapped his arms around her throat and cut off all air” so that she could not make any sounds or breathe. She said their young children witnessed the scene and she had hidden in a hotel.

She said in the statement that Powell had sent her 100 text messages saying she should kill herself and that he would make her pay.

Powell had been reported missing since July 26 after a warrant for his arrest was issued on July 23 but was taken into custody Tuesday, according to the news station.

In 2017, a Kentucky judge dismissed a 2015 lawsuit filed by Powell against Montgomery County school board members who suspended and later fired him.

The Montgomery school board fired Powell and in 2016 the Education Professional Standards Board revoked Powell’s superintendent certification until this year.

It concluded in a recommended order that Powell “drove many good educators out of the district and crushed the careers of others” in his search for celebrity as a superintendent who turned around school districts, the Herald-Leader reported.

This story was originally published September 2, 2020 at 4:55 PM.