QUINCY, MI (WTVB) – A separation agreement between the Quincy Community School District and longtime Quincy High School principal David Spalding was approved Monday night during a special meeting of the Quincy School Board of Education.
Spalding had been the principal at Quincy High School for 17 years.
He had been on administrative leave since last May when questions were raised about how he and former Superintendent Craig Artist handled sexual misconduct allegations against former teacher and Information Technology Director Jason Ferrell.
Ferrell eventually entered no contest pleas to two counts of third degree criminal sexual conduct for having an inappropriate relationship with a former female student. He was sentenced to serve up to 15 years in the Michigan Department of Corrections.
The minutes from the March school board meeting indicated of the nearly dozen people who spoke, a majority expressed their support for Spalding. His backers asked the board to wait until the judicial process was complete and to not make their decision on emotion.
The board had to take action on Spalding’s contract or else it would have automatically renewed for the next school year. But his legal issue has not been determined yet in Branch County District Court.
Spalding and Artist have been charged with a misdemeanor count of failure to report child abuse. No trial date has been scheduled yet. Due to legal disagreements, an evidentiary hearing has been scheduled for May 16th.
