WCPSS principal failed to report abuse, shuffled to administrative position | JoCo school board member convicted
No. 107 — Jan. 12-Jan. 18, 2025
Principal who dismissed abuse claims against now-convicted teacher shuffled out of public role
East Wake principal out after WRAL investigation shows he failed to report violent teacher - WRAL
Wake principal leaving his role after review of teacher who abused special-ed students - N&O
Principal at East Wake Magnet High School steps down from role - CBS17
In April 2024, a teacher resigned from the Wake County Public School System just one day after WRAL investigators reached out to the district regarding allegations that he had physically abused special needs students under his care.
Six months later, James Rencher was found guilty on six counts of assaulting persons with disabilities and received a 60-day suspended jail sentence.
However, further investigation by WRAL has revealed that at least ten WCPSS employees including Superintendent Robert Taylor were aware of the allegations against Rencher, yet it took over 18 months and two WRAL exposés before law enforcement was notified.
One of these employees is Stacey Alston, the principal of East Wake Magnet High School where these assaults occurred, who had reviewed and responded to the reports of the assaults filed by a fellow teacher back in October 2022, yet failed to either report the incidents to the police or even inform the parents of the special needs students who had been sent home with unexplained bruises. Instead, Rencher was named "Teacher of the Week" at East Wake, and was eventually transferred to Herbert Akins Road Middle School in Fuquay-Varina prior to the exposure of his misbehavior and arrest.
This week, it was announced that Alston would be "transitioning" from his position as principal to that of a senior administrator in the Maintenance and Operations Department. Despite the ignominious circumstances surrounding this move, Alston will be retaining his $143,300 salary. (According the WCPSS 2024-2025 salary schedule, the midpoint in the salary band for a senior administrator position is $84,234.)
Johnston County school board member convicted of extortion, etc.
Who’s who in the JoCo school board member case involving sex, blackmail and politics - N&O
Attorney General Jeff Jackson Announces Convictions in Johnston County Public Corruption Case - Press Release
STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA VS RONALD LEE JOHNSON, Jr. (Case No. 23CR003494-500) - NC eCourts
School Board Chair Releases Statement On Ronald Johnson Trial - JoCo Report
Republican member of the Johnston County Board of Education Ronald Johnson Jr. was convicted on Friday of extortion, obstruction of justice, and two charges of willfully failing to discharge his duties. After the verdict, Johnson received an active sentence of 6-17 months in prison, as well as 16-29 months suspended and 30 months probation; Johnson was also removed from the school board and was ordered to surrender his law enforcement license.
During the trial, which spanned two weeks, jurors heard testimony regarding a tangled web of relationships between individuals involved in Johnston County politics.
Day One: "Allegations of nude videos, blackmail kick off JoCo school board member’s extortion trial" - N&O
The trial began with testimony on the first day from DeVan Barbour IV, who unsuccessfully ran for in the GOP primary for the 13th Congressional district in both 2022 and 2024, testified that Johnson attempted to extort him during his 2022 campaign with evidence of an "inappropriate conversation" between him and Johnston County schoolteacher Angela Barbour (no relation), seeking to pressure DeVan Barbour into convincing Angela Barbour to write a letter denying the multi-year affair she had previously had with Johnson. (All three of these individuals were/are married.)
Day Two: "JoCo teacher says she was asked to record sex, wear a wire as extortion trial continues" - N&O
On the second day, Angela Barbour testified that she began an extramarital affair with Johnson in 2020, and that he had asked her to record conversations at a GOP convention, as well as attempt to record herself having sex with DeVan Barbour, which she refused to do. In reference to the "inappropriate conversation" with DeVan Barbour, Angela Barbour testified that he had FaceTimed her late at night in late 2021 while intoxicated and fully nude. (In his own testimony, DeVan Barbour denied any recollection of such an incident.)
Day Three: "Secretly recorded conversations, attempts to hide affair revealed in JoCo extortion trial"
The third day saw testimony from Kevin Donovan, a former ally of Johnson's and fellow Republican school board member, who received an immunity deal in exchange for his testimony. Donovan testified that he had recorded an interview with a Johnston County District Attorney’s investigator at the behest of Johnson, the subject of the investigation. Donovan also testified that Angela Barbour had told him of her relationship with Johnson, but that he believed Johnson's denial of the affair until he came clean to Donovan and another Republican school board member, Michelle Antoine, after his re-election in 2022.
Day Four: "JoCo school board member wanted threesome, had lover followed, according to trial testimony" - N&O
On the fourth day, jurors heard from former Clayton High School Principal Bennett Jones and Owen Phillips, a former colleague of Johnson in the Smithfield Police Department. Jones testified that Johnson had asked him to reassign two of Phillips' sons, who are autistic and were studying in a special program at the school, after Johnson believed that Phillips had leaked negative information, which formed one of the bases for the charge against Johnson of willfully failing to discharge his duties.
Phillips testified that he had surveilled Angela Barbour on behalf of Johnson after he told him that he had received a report of her engaging in an inappropriate relationship with a student, but refused a request from Johnson to try and "date" Angela Barbour himself, as Johnson had told him that she was crazy and "obsessed with him." (Phillips is no longer a police officer, after pleading guilty to possession of testosterone and surrendering his law enforcement certification.)
Day Five: "JoCo teacher threatened with audio release of sexual conversation, judge testifies" - N&O
Superior Court Judge Paul Holcombe took the stand on the fifth day, testifying that that Angela Barbour had told him about the situation with Johnson and DeVan Barbour, and that she told him Johnson was also threatening her with the same recording he was threatening DeVan Barbour with if she did not write a statement denying her affair with him. Holcombe testified that he recommended Angela Barbour refuse Johnson's demands, and reconcile with her husband.
In addition, Richard Hoffman, an investigator with the district attorney's office, testified that he had observed a cell phone inside Johnson's office at the Clayton Fitness gym, which was no longer present when he returned with a search warrant. Video from the gym showed Johnson returning to the office after being informed of Hoffman's visit and leaving with a box, resulting in the obstruction of justice charge for removing evidence.
Day Six: "Denial of blackmail, details of sexual affair emerge in JoCo school board member testimony" - N&O
Johnson's defense began on the sixth day of the trial, with the defendant himself giving his side of the story. Johnson testified that his motivations were positive in making DeVan Barbour aware of the recording of Johnson's conversation with Angela Barbour about DeVan Barbour, and that he never released the recording despite DeVan Barbour not obtaining the statement from Angela Barbour which DeVan Barbour testified he was threatening him over.
In response to the other charges, Johnson testified that he had removed items from his office because the door had been "defaced," and that he had only recorded a closed meeting of the school board to "prevent a violation" of the federal Family and Medical Leave Act in regards to a former teacher of his, which was the basis of the other charge of willfully failing to discharge his duties.
Johnson also admitted to having affairs with three separate women who were employees of the Johnson County School District.
Day Seven: "Jurors deliver verdict in JoCo extortion case involving secret recordings and affairs" - N&O
Ultimately, after three hours of deliberation and found Johnson guilty on all four counts.
After the verdict, Johnson was led out in handcuffs to begin his six to seventeen month sentence of incarceration.
Johnson, who won election last year despite the active indictment, was ordered removed from his school board seat; the process of Johnston County Board of Election will begin the process of filling the position at a special meeting on Tuesday, January 21st at 8:00am.
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Federal judge puts the brakes on Durham Fire Department consent decree
In a previously missed update to a story I wrote about last October, the federal judge overseeing the case brought by the Department of Justice against the City of Durham over an exam used for firefighter positions which allegedly "disparately impacted" black applicants issued an order last month requesting briefing on the applicability of a particular Supreme Court ruling.
In Ricci v. DeStefano (2009), SCOTUS held that a Connecticut fire department had violated Title VII equal opportunity law by throwing out the results of a race blind promotion examination because the white candidates had passed at a significantly higher rate.
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