Meadowview rebounds after resignation

Published 12:00 am Sunday, March 14, 2004

The abrupt resignation of principal Dr. Stephen Morgan last weekend left the Meadowview Christian School family shocked.

However, after meeting with students, teachers and parents throughout the week, the school’s Board of Directors said the resignation has helped to unify the school.

Though there were apprehensions early in the week among teachers and parents, the board reacted quickly, meeting separately with teachers before they could even meet together as a board.

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Early in the week the school was left to deal with Morgan’s resignation letter that was found Sunday by one of the school’s coaches.

Members from the board tried to make contact with Morgan and spoke to the former headmaster by phone on Monday night.

Later, it was revealed in a Birmingham News article that Morgan is one of three finalists for a superintendent job in Bessemer.

The board has since learned that contact was made for the opening as far back as December.

The uncertainty of Morgan’s position helped fuel rumors about the future of the school, according to Smith.

McIntyre agreed, &uot;We’ve got an excellent staff, they’re more than capable of handling the school.&uot;

While the search begins for a headmaster, Rick Jackson will fill in as interim headmaster. The school’s longtime guidance counselor Ann Walker will also help fill the void.

Gargus said they’ve already received calls about the job and calls offering support.

Though the exact reasons for the sudden departure weren’t entirely clear, one issue that Morgan mentioned to board members was a Saturday night fund-raising raffle. Apparently Morgan felt that the raffle was an inappropriate way for a Christian school to raise funds.

But as members of the board pointed out, the raffle was Saturday night and Morgan had interviewed for the Bessemer job the previous Thursday.

In the end, Smith says, no matter why Morgan left, the school is in good shape and he and the rest of the Trojan family plan on keeping it that way.