Parents offer support for West Muskingum principal

ZANESVILLE - Parents of West Muskingum Middle School students are offering their support to Greg Stickel, the middle school principal placed on administrative leave on Wednesday afternoon.

The administrative leave came after Stickel and Superintendent Bill Harbron could not agree on who should be in charge of discipline, according to Stickel. Stickel has said he believes he should be involved with the discipline of his students, and Harbron thought discipline responsibilities should fall solely with the associate principal.

Harbron did not comment for this story, but he did acknowledge that he had "no personality conflict" with Stickel.

Jennifer Snider, a parent of two West Muskingum middle school kids, said Stickel is the best principal she's worked with in the past several years. One of her children is on an individual education plan and the other has had to be disciplined by the administration.

One child, she said, has had problems with bullies, and the situation had never been adequately handled before.

"This year, my son made one statement (to Stickel)," she said, and the situation was addressed quickly and her son has had no more issues with those individuals.

"Yes, (Stickel) is strict, he's firm, but he's very fair," Snider said. "He's the first principal who's come in there and done anything."

Snider met with him once to discuss her children, and she said as kids were walking by in the hallway, he knew a majority of them by name. And Stickel knows when a student achieves something, too.

"When kids do things right, he's always right there telling them 'good job,'" she said.

Stickel received a letter from Harbron placing him on administrative leave on Wednesday. The letter states that Stickel must undergo a fitness for duty exam by a doctor chosen by the school district to be cleared as principal.

Stickel said he has no idea what a fitness for duty exam is. At this point, he said, he just wants to meet with the superintendent, with or without the board, either in private or in a public forum.

"I'm a little surprised that none of the board members have contacted me," he said.

The letter also stated that while Stickel had repeatedly asked for meetings with Harbron and the board members, both Harbron and the board declined his request to meet. Chet Coleman, West Muskingum board member, and Dan Ankrum, West Muskingum school board vice president, previously told the Times Recorder they did not know Stickel had asked for a meeting with them and did not decline any meetings.

A petition on Change.org to keep Stickel as principal had garnered 374 supporters as of 4 p.m. Friday. The number of supporters has steadily climbed since it was started last week by West Muskingum parents.

Coleman, Ankurm, Valerie Gutridge, school board president, and Ty Dierkes, board member, did not return calls from the Times Recorder on Friday seeking comments. Board member Don Jeffers could not be reached for comment.

"I wish it didn't have to be Dr. Harbron verses me," Stickel said. "(West Muskingum teachers and students) deserve better than this little mess."

ksnyder2@zanesvilletimesrecorder.com

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Twitter: @KL_Snyder