Suspended Lexington middle school principal resigns. State license board may take action
A Lexington middle school principal who has been suspended since April 2023 has resigned, a letter released Wednesday under the Kentucky Open Records Act said.
In April 2023, Fayette County Public Schools school officials placed principal Gregory Michael Hale on administrative leave. They have never said why, only citing “the public nature of the situation”. State child protection officials have not released details of their investigation to the Herald-Leader.
In a Oct. 2, 2023 resignation letter released to the Herald-Leader, Hale said, “My intent is to use my vacation, personal, emergency and sick leave. Therefore, I render my resignation as executive principal at Winburn Middle School effective June 11th, 2024. It has been wonderful working for Fayette Public Schools and I wish you and everyone in the system the very best.“
The spokesperson for the Kentucky state department that handles child protection said in April they were investigating a situation that resulted in Hale being placed on administrative leave. No other information was given at the time.
In August, Fayette County Public Schools named assistant principal BJ Martin as interim principal.
Under the Kentucky Open Records Act, Fayette school officials in late July released to the Herald-Leader a letter to Hale saying the Kentucky Education Professional Standards Board that licenses educators had been notified of his leave but did not provide any details as to the cause. On January 31, board officials told the Herald-Leader in an open records denial that until it has taken final action on an educator case, details of the case are exempt from disclosure.
Fayette County Public Schools Chief of Staff Tracy Bruno said the district does not comment on personnel matters. State child protection officials did not immediately comment Thursday and Hale did not respond to an email asking for comment.
This story was originally published February 15, 2024 at 9:07 AM.