Priest River high principal back after administrative leave

PRIEST RIVER — A spring dance resulted in Priest River Lamanna Junior/Senior High Principal Matt George being placed on administrative leave for two weeks after a cell phone video surfaced of him dancing with a student.

According to George, there was a school dance he was chaperoning at on April 11. A female student was helping prepare for the event and George said he came up behind her, turned her around and started to dance with her, “a few shuffling steps,” before stopping and, “going about my business.” The incident was recorded on another student’s cell phone, George said. It was brought to his attention the following Monday that the interaction made the female student uncomfortable. George said he reported the incident to West Bonner County School District Superintendent Kim Spacek and was placed on administrative leave for two weeks pending an investigation into his conduct. Following the investigation by Spacek, which determined that he had not violated WBCSD’s code of ethics, George said he met with Spacek and WBCSD human resources on Friday, May 2 before returning to work Monday, May 5. An official reprimand has been placed on his professional record, and rightfully so, George said in a phone interview with The Miner Tuesday, May 6.

“I’m consistently telling the kids not to make dumb decisions, and I made a truly dumb decision,” George said. “I feel bad for making that student uncomfortable. When you work in education your job is to keep children safe and try and make the school environment as comfortable as possible. When you break that trust, it’s a big deal and it takes time to get it back.”

George has been an employee of WBCSD for nine years and a principal four years.

When reached for comment, Spacek only said there was an allegation that had been under investigation. He would not confirm or deny that George had been placed on administrative leave.

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