Southwestern Indiana principal fired over attendance claims

PETERSBURG, Ind. — A southwestern Indiana elementary school principal has been fired by a school board that says he falsifying student attendance records and didn’t complete teacher evaluations.

An attorney for Rick Fears says he was shocked by the Pike County School Board’s decision and that a lawsuit was planned over Fears’ firing as Otwell Elementary School principal.

The Washington Times-Herald reports district officials say Fears altered the records of absent students to improve the attendance rate for the school about 40 miles northeast of Evansville. The district also says Fears violating privacy laws by releasing standardized test results with student names.

Attorney Mark Phillips says he believed after a board hearing last week that Fears was going to be reinstated as principal and that his firing isn’t justified.