Dunbar principal lawsuit shows dysfunction, sows distraction. Kids lose the most. | Opinion
.jpg "Marlon Ball, the principal of Paul Laurence Dunbar High School in Lexington.")
Every time our editorial board interviews candidates for the Fayette school board — or any public office for that matter — they emphasize the crucial need for transparency and communication.
And rightfully so. A body that stewards millions of taxpayer dollars and our children at the same time must be able to tell us exactly what they are doing and why.
However, reality often falls far from that aspiration. That’s particularly true in the Case of the Dunbar Principal. I have no idea what happened or why; all I know is that after four months of silence without any resolution, Dunbar High School is still without a principal and the district is embroiled in a lawsuit that is going to take time, attention and money away from the job of educating our kids.
Here’s what we do know: Fayette administrators put Marlon Ball, a first-year principal on leave that was gradually extended. His attorney says not only was he never told why but that they have never asked him any questions about his alleged wrongdoing.
Instead, some insinuations were made between Ball and the suicide of a school employee. Given the seriousness of that alleged link, you would think the district would have moved swiftly to get to the truth.
The lawsuit unveils even more dysfunction in the district, including bad blood between Ball and James McMillin, the district’s high school director and Ball’s supervisor. Ball came to the district to interview for the job at Lexington Traditional Magnet School, but was put into the mix for the job at Dunbar for diversity’s sake, the lawsuit claims. Ball had never been a lead principal, so his choice seems curious for either of the two most demanding jobs in the district, but on June 2, the school council chose him for Dunbar.
(Coincidentally or probably not so coincidentally, the council chose Ball before a new state law would have given Superintendent Demetrus Liggins the final say over the principal’s hiring. It went into effect on July 14.)
Then Ball was suspended, and for four months, neither he, nor the taxpayers of Fayette County, have had any idea why, leaving plenty of time for rumors and supposition. Whatever the district was investigating, it boggles the mind that it would have taken more than a month at most. To string it out in this way violates basic cultural tenets of speedy trials, due process and plain old fair play.
Once again, when you talk about transparency and communication, but fail to actually display them, you end up in trouble. This saga will go for months more; the district will continue to lose respect, time and money that should be better spent on education. Our kids, our parents, our teachers and our taxpayers deserve much, much better.
