During a regular school board meeting Thursday night, board members announced that Guy-Perkins superintendent David Westenhover, arrested Thursday on two felony charges, will resign at the end of the school year.
The board spent just under an hour in executive session before reading a letter from Westenhover announcing his plans to resign, then voted to place the superintendent on paid administrative leave.
Brian Cossey, K-12 principal, was appointed by board members as interim superintendent and Damon Teas, assistant K-12 principal, was appointed as interim principal.
Westenhover was arrested by deputies with the Faulkner County Sheriff’s Office around noon Thursday following a 3-month long investigation into a burglary, stolen guns and property.
He is charged with theft by receiving, a Class D felony, hindering apprehension, a Class A misdemeanor, and aiding consummation of offense, a Class D felony.
Westenhover became superintendent at Guy-Perkins School District in 2008 after three years as principal of Guy-Perkins High School. Before he became principal at Guy, he was an elementary principal in the Lead Hill School District in Boone County.
Comments (4)
Add commentHow timely
(insert Gigantic face-palm)
PAID leave?
That's insane and a waste of taxpayer funds by the school board.
You're right
After a period of service with, one presumes overall effectiveness, and now losing his career, and his home, and having his family get wrapped up in the deal (and not that we know what "the deal" is in full) we should kick him out into the rain.
He should be, right now, living in a box by an Interstate exit with the words "I have failed the community" Sharpie'd on the side (sloppily) and as we drive by we can throw tomatoes at him.
Oh wait, because it's raining we won't be able to see his tears.
Okay, so he can be inside the box, but we have to be able to see his face. Then hitting him with tomatoes can be like one of those carnival games.
Or we could pay him out a few buck, avoid the whole "contract termination" potential for legal repercussions, and otherwise focus on repair and leave vengeance to entities better qualified to enact it.
Granted, that's not Internets, but sometimes I do go outside (in the rain, so you can't see my tears).
Not quite, Nathaniel, however...
..for someone in a position of responsibility as Westenhover was to be involved in a case like this betrays many things a superintendent is supposed to stand for.
But even if we take the Scarlet Letter like approach, it might serve us well to have a few more labeled examples of behaviors we do not want in society. As things are at present, one wonders if there are any behaviors society find reprehensible anymore.